


A Legend of a Lonely Boy

by bunnymaccool



Category: Teen Wolf (TV)
Genre: Anal Sex, Angsty Schmoop, Bonding, Bottom Derek Hale, Fingerfucking, Lots of messing with werewolf lore, M/M, Mates, Mpreg, Non Consensual, Pregnant Derek, but only in flashbacks, non-con is incestous, sorry - Freeform
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-02-23
Updated: 2013-02-23
Packaged: 2017-12-03 07:37:00
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Rape/Non-Con, Underage
Chapters: 1
Words: 42,991
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/695837
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/bunnymaccool/pseuds/bunnymaccool
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>(Season 2 AU beginning with 2x09 - no Alpha pack) - Peter Hale managed to climb his way back up from death only long enough to do one, terrible, horrible thing. It was enough to accomplish his goal. To leave a legacy. Two months after killing his uncle for the second time, Derek is feeling sick and weak, heavy in his own body. What Deaton is telling him should be impossible... but...</p><p>There is a werewolf legend. About unmated alpha who desperately desired to have heirs, so he studied the moon and the stars in such great depth that he discovered a secret. On the night of the full moon, when the stars aligned just so … he could plant his pups into whatever body he desired. Regardless of species, regardless of gender. </p><p>The danger is this ... werewolves are not meant to carry pups alone. They need someone to guide them, love them, protect them during this time of vulnerability. A partner. A mate. But Derek Hale has none of these things. He has no one. If he and his pup are going to survive, he may just have to follow the ridiculous suggestion Deaton puts forth. The completely annoying, loud-mouthed, pain in his ass suggestion that makes Derek want to rip someone's throat out. With his teeth.</p>
            </blockquote>





	A Legend of a Lonely Boy

**Author's Note:**

> Written for the MPREGBIGBANG on LJ and also my VERY FIRST TEEN WOLF FIC!!! 8D I had a LOVELY time! Thank you SO much to my cheerleader MISS KAY!!! , my fabulous artist QAFMANIAC (PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE go check out her awesome artwork [HERE!!!](http://qafmaniac.livejournal.com/223207.html)) and my lovely beta MIRROR_MIRRIN!!! You are all wonderful, gorgeous human beings!!!

  


Dirty fingers scraped at his sides and yanked at his pants, pulling them down and away from his body. His shirt had been sliced away by bloodied claws, ribbons of the shredded cotton spread beneath him like party streamers. A muffled weeping came from a huddled figure in the corner, her gasping breaths filling the near silence of the room. He whispered her name again and again, something inside him desperate for help. Clawing between his bones, screaming _‘wrong!wrong!bad!wrong!’_

The hands sliding across his skin suddenly clutched at him painfully and flipped him over onto his belly. His muscles still felt like heavy leaden weights, unresponsive and ignorant of his every demand to _MOVE!_ The figure behind him leaned flush against his back for a second as stale breath puffed across his cheek.

“So sorry about this, dear nephew… but I’m afraid my time is limited and I have something very important that I need to accomplish. You understand, I’m sure, don’t you?”

Before he could so much as suck air to form a response, his hips were being lifted and pulled roughly backwards. Then he was being split open by pain. A frantic howl ripped itself straight out of his throat as he desperately tried to pull away from the invasion. The figure in the corner gasped in horror and he closed his eyes so he wouldn’t have to meet her gaze. A couple pounding heartbeats later, he could hear her scramble up and run from the room. 

A pitiful whine escaped him, unbidden, at her retreat. He was both grateful that no one was present to witness more of his shame, and desperate for someone to help him… save him. Stop the terrible, ripping, searing pain that was licking up and down his spine and creating the rivulets of blood trekking down his inner thighs. A pulse of warmth coated his insides and all he could think was finally… _finally_ , before the heaving sigh of sated pleasure behind him was cut short with a resounding _thwack._

Opening his eyes instantly, he was slightly amazed to see the petite redhead sucking in great lungfuls of air and wielding a rusted shovel. The lifeless weight dropping onto his back spurred him into action. He pulled away from the figure, gasping out his pain at separation, before weakly turning around and ripping out his uncle’s throat. 

Again. 

~*~

Derek startled to consciousness with a whimper clamped in his gullet and the sense memory of hands clawing at his naked skin. He hurtled himself out of the abandoned train car that served as his bedroom and barely made it across the depot to the old public washrooms before vomiting up last nights dinner in one of the truly disgusting toilets. Panting and swallowing against the rising bile, he threw himself backwards to lean against the cool tile floor. 

It had been two months since Peter had briefly risen from the dead. The nightmares were getting steadily worse with each passing day, and for the last two weeks each morning had found him in the mad dash to the decrepit facilities to puke out whatever the previous evenings dinner had consisted of. Something was making him feel weighted down, grounded to the earth. He was uncomfortable in his own skin, and increasingly antsy whenever he needed to leave the solitude of the depot. 

At least, for the time being, Beacon Hills was experiencing a little spout of peace. The kanima had been dealt with, Jackson was now a full-fledged werewolf… and begrudgingly attempting to build relations with the pack members. Gerard’s body had been found in the woods by the Argents, steeped in black blood and foul enough to contaminate the ground around him likely for years. Scott was still maintaining that he was a pack unto himself… but always seemed to appear wherever Isaac was. 

Stiles had deemed Thursday nights as ‘Supernatural Bonding Nights’ … which to Derek’s ears just sounded like a different term for ‘pack meeting’ and they all invaded the depot weekly to just mess around and accomplish fuck all. Lydia was a steady presence at Jackson’s side and the one time she and Derek had locked gazes they had practically flung themselves to different corners of the building. Luckily no one had been paying attention. 

School was almost out for the summer. The beta’s were keeping up with their training. Scott had offered a temporary truce to the hostilities. Everyone was doing surprisingly well. Everyone, except apparently … for Derek. 

He dry-heaved a couple more times into the toilet, but his stomach was finally blessedly empty. Pulling himself up agonizingly slowly, Derek fumbled his way out of the bathroom only to run right into Isaac. The beta looked slightly ill himself and tried to reach forward to steady Derek on his feet, but the alpha ripped out of his grasp. 

“Don’t touch me.”

Isaac chewed nervously at his bottom lip while he followed Derek’s halting progress back to his lumpy mattress jammed into the corner of his allotted rail car. 

“Derek, please … just … go see Deaton?”

The alpha snarled at him before curling up in his bed and waiting for the nausea tickling at his insides to pass. 

“I’m fine.”

A startled laugh tumbled out from the beta’s lips. 

“You’re really, _really_ not. Please, just … what if I call him and see if he can come here?”

Derek sighed and rolled away to present his back to the beta. 

“Fine … just leave me alone.”

He must have fallen back into a dreamless sleep, heavy with exhaustion, because the next thing he knew it was evening again and the soft footfalls of the local veterinarian were approaching cautiously. Rolling over to his back on the lumpy mattress, Derek eyed Deaton as the older man slowly navigated himself inside the cramped train car. The alpha took a deep inhale catching a faint whiff of Scott off the doctor, but no one else. 

“I’ve sent them away for now. I wasn’t sure you would want them here while we spoke.”

Derek grunted in acknowledgement. Normally he would have risen to meet the intruder in his den, but he felt too drained and bone-weary to even make the attempt. He supposed it was good that Isaac had badgered him into letting the vet stop by. There was obviously something very wrong with him. Deaton knelt beside the mattress and placed a small black satchel on the floor. 

“Good evening, Derek. Your betas are very worried about you.”

A silent glare probably wasn’t the appropriate response in the current situation, but never let it be said that Derek Hale couldn’t grab a theme and fucking _ride_ with it. Deaton only smirked slightly in response. 

“Isaac said you’ve been getting sick most mornings, been sleeping much more than what is usual for you, and have become increasingly irritable and solitary. Does that sound like an apt description of your symptoms?”

Refusing to answer directly once more, Derek let his gaze fall away from the vet to settle on the door behind the human. 

“I may know what’s wrong, Derek… but to determine the truth, we’re going to have to have an extremely uncomfortable conversation. I’m warning you in advance.”

A shiver of unease lanced down the alpha’s spine, amplifying when the vet slowly reached forward to place a hand low on Derek’s belly. A deep, threatening growl instantly erupted from his throat but the man just continued to speak in a slow, calming tone. 

“I’m not going to hurt you, but I have to be sure.”

Derek snarled in response. His thoughts on the situation hopefully clearly vocalized, although his body didn’t feel the need to move away from the surprisingly warm touch. He had only been wearing a thread-bare pair of loose sweatpants to bed recently. Too overheated now at night to bother with anything else. So Deaton’s palm lay directly on his skin, and there was a power in the touch that had the werewolf’s flesh prickling with goose bumps. 

“Ah … there we go. It seems I was correct.”

With those words the vet pulled away and gingerly sat back on the dusty floor of the train car. The gaze that met Derek’s was direct and serious. A small measure of fear began to ball up in the alpha’s gut. He finally decided to break his radio silence, licking his dry lips before speaking. 

“What is it? What’s wrong with me?”

Deaton rested his elbows on his knees and steepled his fingers together. 

“Derek, the night that Peter briefly came back to life… before you and the Martin girl killed him. Did he do something … to you?”

A low warning rumble began to echo through the depot, and the mattress beneath the alpha’s fingers gained some new rips across it’s surface. Deaton sighed, a little wearily. 

“That answers my question, then. I won’t make you relive the event by requesting details, but Derek … there was a very specific reason that Peter did what he did. On _that_ particular full moon.”

Derek snapped his teeth a couple times in quick succession, imagining them clamping down over the vet’s jugular to keep the words from flowing out. 

“And what reason is that? To humiliate me? Shame me? Get back at me for taking the alpha from him?”

Deaton’s gaze hardened and the werewolf found himself unable to look away. 

“No … not at all. It was to impregnate you.”

The world got a little spotty for a few moments after those words were uttered. Derek felt a little sick, and a lot dizzy, and didn’t even remember closing his eyes and sinking further into his mattress. Words and memories were spinning around in his head. His mother’s voice explaining to him that there was a legend, when the moon was full and the stars were aligned just so … that an alpha could practically impregnate anything. The wolf was so strong those nights, nearly bursting with the need to sire an heir that it would create its own womb in the vessel of its choosing. But that was just a legend. A stupid, silly legend.

“It _is_ a werewolf legend, but often times you’ll find that legends are based off of facts.”

Deaton’s voice pulled him back from whatever headspace he had slipped away to. He hadn’t even realized he had been speaking aloud until Deaton had responded to him. The word pregnant was on an indefinite loop inside Derek’s skull that he couldn’t pause. _Pregnant. Pregnant. Pup. Pregnant. My uncle raped me and now I’m pregnant._ Fuck, he was going to be sick. Again. 

“He wanted an heir. He craved it. You took the alpha away from him, so he did the next best thing and sired your replacement. Perhaps he didn’t believe you would kill him again when you found out. Perhaps he thought to steal the child away until it was old enough to challenge you. Perhaps he knew he would only live the one night, and took the chance in order to leave behind a legacy. There are so many possibilities when dealing with the fractured mind of Peter Hale.”

A desperate laugh bubbled up from somewhere deep inside Derek before he could help it. He brought the heel of his palms to his eyes and pressed down hard enough to see stars. Deaton continued to speak, and Derek found himself unwillingly grasping onto the sound to keep himself tethered to reality. 

“If you concentrate… you can feel the little one. Just a tiny spark of life, but it’s there. Concentrate, Derek, and you’ll know that I’m speaking the truth.”

Derek dropped his arms limply back to the mattress, but left his eyes closed. He focused on his own body and tried to block out all the world around him. There was a little flare of a bond somewhere deep inside that screamed for _pack! And mother! And protect me!_ He whimpered softly when he felt it. 

“It’s fragile and delicate right now… but it’s there. That’s your child, Derek. I would understand, given the circumstances, if you wish to abort it. And I will help you do so without judgment.” 

He finally opened his eyes to meet Deaton’s gaze once more, and promptly shook his head in the negative. The fact that it was Peter… was so fucked up beyond belief, but the pup would also be family. And it was the only family he had left. The vet smiled softly at him. 

“I’m glad that you’ve made this choice, and I will still help you any way that I can … but unfortunately, I’m not what you need… and your pup is in danger.”

Now he was _really_ going to be sick. Having the chance of a new family dangled before him… with the possibility it could be taken away almost as quickly. 

“How? What… what do I need to do?”

Deaton finally reached toward the satchel that he’d set beside him on the floor. He pulled out a large glass bottle, full to the brim with pills. 

“It’s been awhile since I’ve had the opportunity to make these, I had to triple check the ingredients. These are prenatal vitamins specifically designed for werewolves. I gave the same to your mother when she was carrying you.”

The vet handed the bottle over with a sad little smile tugging at his lips. Derek took the glass vessel gingerly and eyed the tiny blue and white pills inside. 

“Take one with breakfast and one with dinner. Unlike humans, that’s the only real prenatal care that you’ll need. Your body is strong enough to deal with anything else.”

Derek lifted his eyes to meet the man’s dark gaze. 

“Then what’s the danger? For the pup?”

Deaton _‘hmmed’_ under his breath as he re-closed the satchel and shifted to a low crouch next to the bed. 

“The danger isn’t for the pup directly… but to you.”

Tension shot across the werewolf’s shoulders and he had to set down the glass bottle lest it shatter in his grip.

“To me?”

Deaton nodded before pointedly glancing around the abandoned train depot. 

“Werewolves don’t do well pregnant when they’re alone.”

Derek growled softly. 

“I’m not alone. I have a pack.”

The vet shook his head solemnly. 

“A pack isn’t what you need. You need a _mate._ ”

The alpha scoffed, then gingerly struggled to a sitting position on the mattress.

“I don’t need a-”

“You do, actually. You could kill yourself and your pup without one.”

That startled him into silence. 

“Pregnant werewolves need a mate to help them through the process. Keep them fed and safe when they’re too exhausted to move. Keep them holed up securely in the den away from other pack mates. It’s an essential part of the process. Have you ever heard of a single werewolf parent? No? It’s because the pup or the mother very rarely make it through to term. I’m sure it pains you to hear it, but you need someone to take care of you.”

Deaton glanced down towards the alpha’s belly, and it took Derek a few seconds to realize he had wrapped his arms protectively around himself. He growled low in his throat, just to prove he still could. 

“One of the betas-”

“Another werewolf won’t work.”

Derek blinked. 

“What?”

The vet shrugged slightly before holding his hands palm up in a placating gesture. 

“The pup is Peter’s… no matter how disturbing a thought that is, and you cannot ask another werewolf to look after it. They would as soon as kill it, just by instinct alone. If it isn’t theirs, you’ll receive no bond with them. Not the kind of bond you need. That of a mated pair. As your beta’s only, they will protect and love and nurture the pup … but as a mate, their wolves won’t let them.”

“So I need a human?”

Deaton grinned. 

“So you need a human.”

Derek huffed a disbelieving breath before falling back onto the mattress. 

“So what? I’m just supposed to find some human? Tell them ‘Hi! I’m a werewolf, and pregnant, and in case you haven’t noticed _male_ … but would you mind bonding with me for life and helping me raise this pup? And did I mention it’s my uncle’s?’”

Deaton chuckled softly under his breath. 

“Well, when you put it like that … it does sound rather ridiculous.”

Derek snarled loudly and snapped sharp incisors twice in the vet’s general direction. 

“I meant no disrespect. Only wanted to point out that none of that will be necessary. You already know the perfect candidate to help you.”

The alpha raised one heavy eyebrow towards the vet in skepticism. 

“And who would _that_ be?”

Deaton grinned and Derek suddenly felt nervous. 

“Do you mean to tell me that you can’t think of a single human that you know, who has extensive knowledge of werewolves? A kind, generous and loyal soul who repeatedly risks _everything_ for his friends?”

Now Derek was feeling _nauseously_ nervous. He had an idea where this was going. 

“Someone for whom family is such a precious and important thing? Who against his better judgment seems to like you enough to, more than once, risk his own life to save yours? You can’t think of _anyone_ like that?”

The werewolf rolled his eyes dramatically before squeezing them closed. 

“Fuck.”

“Shall we give him a call?”

Derek idly wondered what would happen if he ripped out Deaton’s throat. With his teeth. 

He wouldn’t say he was nervous. Or scared. He was the alpha for fuck’s sake. This was just a situation that he had never in a million years ever imagined he would have to deal with. Everything he had planned for his future was kind of up in the air at the moment. (Not that he had really planned anything, _specific_ … but the consideration was there.)

Regardless, now he was sitting on the exam table of a veterinarian’s office waiting for a teenager that he barely tolerated most days. A teenager he was going to ask to possibly rearrange his entire future in order to keep him and his pup alive. _Dammit._ Stiles wasn’t going to do it. There was no _way_ he would agree. Not when Derek explained what being a mate entailed. He’d be lucky if Stiles didn’t burst a blood vessel laughing his way out the door. 

It took him a moment to recognize the soft whine echoing in the room was coming from his own throat. _Fuck._ Deaton sent him a curious smile from where the vet was leaning against the wall. 

“You shouldn’t stress so much, it’s bad for the pup.”

Derek’s lips ripped back from his teeth with a rumbling growl. His irritation was cut short by the sound of a familiar engine making it’s way in a hurry toward his current location. He tilted his head slightly towards the sound and Deaton rose from his slouch against the wall. 

“He’s here, then?”

The alpha could only nod in response, words clamming up in his throat. It was only a few more minutes of silence until he heard tires squeal to a stop and easily recognizable beats of sneakers darting towards the clinic. The clinic door slammed open and a second later Stiles skidded into the exam room, heart jack-rabbiting in his chest. Derek’s throat clicked as he gulped. 

“What is it? What’s wrong? What’s going on? You said it was an emergency. Where is everyone? Why is Derek always half naked?”

Derek snorted under his breath as Stiles paused to gulp down some air. Deaton smiled congenially as he stepped towards the teenager. 

“Good evening, Mr. Stilinski… thank you for coming so quickly.”

Stiles nodded absently, glancing repeatedly in Derek’s direction. 

“Yeah, uh … you said it was important, so… where’s Scott and the others?”

Deaton smiled and placed a hand softly on Stiles’ shoulder. 

“It is important. _Very_ important, Stiles. A matter of life and death, in fact.”

“But then why-”

“However the only pack member we need right now is you.”

The teenager’s eyebrows nearly hit his hairline before he turned questioning eyes to Derek. The werewolf couldn’t hold that gaze, knowing what was about to be said. He turned slowly to lay flat on the exam table as Deaton had instructed him to do. His fists were clenched so tightly he half expected to feel his claws piercing into his palms at any moment. 

“Is there something wrong with Derek? Isaac said he wasn’t feeling well.”

Derek rumbled his discontent at the idea of his beta informing others of a weakness, but the concern obvious in Stiles’ tone gave him pause. So many times since Laura had been killed, the bitter thought that no one would ever care about him again would shank him right in the gut. Even when Scott had come along, and Isaac and Erica and Boyd… he would have maudlin moments to himself. Wondering if they would even give a shit if he fell off the face of the earth. How much of their attachment to him was based solely on the fact he was their alpha. 

They were dark thoughts, but then … he’d had plenty of dark days in his lifetime. 

“Indeed, Stiles, there is something wrong with Mr. Hale. But it has the potential to be something quite wonderful.”

Derek closed his eyes as Deaton pulled Stiles right up to the exam table. 

“That doesn’t make any sense.”

The smile was obvious in the vet’s voice. 

“It will. Now let me see your hand.”

Derek’s breath hitched just a fraction when he felt Deaton place Stiles’ hand carefully just below his navel. The hand was easily distinguishable from the vet’s. Softer and smaller, with long fingers cautiously spreading across his belly. 

“Um … what am I doing?”

Deaton rested his own palm on top of the teenager’s and a spark of power flit across the werewolf’s nerves. 

“Close your eyes, Stiles… tell me what you feel. Concentrate.”

It was completely silent, save for their combined breaths, for at least five minutes before Stiles sucked in a quick gasp. Derek immediately opened his eyes to watch the boy’s face. His mouth had dropped open into a soft ‘o’ but his eyes were still clenched shut. 

“I feel that. It’s like a little … flame? A spark? Wow… it’s … wow… what _is_ that?”

Deaton smiled softly, then stepped away and walked out of the room. _Fucker._ He was leaving all the explanation to Derek. The alpha grumbled just a little deep in his throat, and the sound caused the teenager leaning above him to open his eyes. Derek met his gaze quickly before looking away to the other side of the room. Stiles still hadn’t removed his warm hand from Derek’s belly. 

“Derek? What is that?”

The alpha twitched his lips back in a short sneer before forcing himself to relax against the cold metal of the table. He released the fists he had been making and softly gripped the edges of the table instead. 

“It’s a … it’s a baby. A pup.”

Stiles gasped on a quick intake of air, and immediately started hacking and coughing. His hand slipped away, and Derek was momentarily bereft from its loss. He wondered if that was the wolf seeking out someone to take care of him, just as Deaton had implied. After a couple moments Stiles was still gulping for air, so Derek sighed and slowly pushed himself to a seated position. 

“Do you need some water?”

The teenager shook his head and flapped a hand in Derek’s general direction, which he supposed meant _‘no, thank you, alpha, but bless you for your concern.’_ Derek could even hear it in his mind, uttered in Stiles’ sarcastic voice, no less. Another couple minutes passed before the teen had calmed himself enough to meet Derek’s gaze. 

“Okay so… so… I’m sorry if I heard this wrong… but I swear you just said you were pregnant.”

Derek dropped his own eyes to his legs, and scratched idly at his jeans. 

“There’s a legend. A werewolf legend. I don’t remember everything, but the gist of it was that there was an unmated alpha who desperately desired to have heirs, so he studied the moon and the stars in such great depth that he discovered a secret. On the night of the full moon, when the stars aligned just so … he could plant his pups into whatever body he desired. Regardless of species, regardless of gender. The alpha wolf inside him was so strong it would create a womb of its own inside its partner, to bear the pups.”

At some point while Derek had been speaking, Stiles had slid to the floor and was sitting Indian style with a look of fascinated shock on his face. Derek hopped off the exam table and carefully dropped to the floor before him, leaning back against the legs of the table. Stiles cleared his throat softly before speaking. 

“And it’s said that most legends have bases in fact … so … so another alpha… you slept with another alpha on a full moon? And now you’re pregnant?”

Derek knocked his head back against the metal leg of the table and willed himself to remain calm. If he was going to ask Stiles to do this … the kid deserved the truth. 

“Not … not exactly.”

Stiles flung his arms out in an irritated huff. 

“How _‘not exactly’_?”

The werewolf glared unflinchingly at the ceiling of the clinic. He could do this. He just had to open his mouth and fucking talk. Couldn’t be that hard. Stiles never seemed to have any issue with it, anyway. 

“Two months ago … on the full moon when Peter tried to come back-”

“Oh my god.”

“-I was still weak. I couldn’t move and-”

“Oh my GOD!”

“-he … he held me down and-”

“OH MY GOD! Stop! Derek! Just stop!”

There were suddenly warm hands on his shoulders. When he shifted his gaze down from the ceiling, Stiles was kneeling before him with a look of horror on his face. Derek attempted to smile just a little to let the teen know he was okay, but he could feel it wobble and fall flat on his lips. Stiles’ eyes looked suspiciously glassy. 

“I’m so sorry, Derek. I am _so_ sorry. You don’t have to tell me. You don’t.”

The alpha shook his head. 

“I do.”

The teen sat back on his haunches, but continued to grip the werewolf’s shoulders.

“Why? Why me?”

Derek swallowed and felt his throat click. 

“Because I have something to ask you… and for that, you deserve the truth.”

Stiles just blinked at him a couple times before nodding jerkily and making a motion with his hands to _‘ask away’._ Derek sighed and silently wished that he was better with words. 

“Deaton says that I can’t go through this on my own. That even trying to do so… the pup could die … and so could I.”

Stiles sucked in a sharp breath. 

“You have a whole pack to take care of you. We won’t let anything happen, Derek! It’ll be fine!”

The alpha shook his head absently. 

“That’s not what I need. Not the pack. Not everyone. Just one person … just a … a mate.”

The teen nodded frantically. 

“Okay! Okay, so … you need me to reach out to other packs? Find a suitable mate for you? I can do that! I can-why are you shaking your head?”

Derek sighed again. It felt like he’d been doing that a lot lately. It was fucking annoying. 

“Can’t be a werewolf. They won’t help to raise another wolf’s pup. They’ll kill it. It goes against our instinct. Unless they’re family, new alpha’s always kill the previous alpha’s offspring.”

Stiles made a face. 

“That’s horrible.”

Derek shrugged a shoulder. 

“That’s nature.”

After a shiver of disgust, the teenager absently brought his fingers towards his mouth to chew at his fingernails. 

“Okay… well … that leaves a human, right? I mean… of course. So, I mean, you just have to find a human mate. One that is preferably not easily freaked out by werewolves. Or your social ineptitude. Or the fact that you’re a pregnant _man_. Or your judgmental eyebrows.”

The werewolf growled at him, eyes flashing red.

“Or, you know… _that_. Not to mention the fact that you have severe trust issues. Holy shit… you’re fucked. You’re well and truly-”

“I trust _you_.”

“-fuuuuuuuuuuuuc- … _what did you just say?_ ”

Derek sneered and spoke slowly, taking time to properly enunciate every word. 

“I. Trust. _You._ ”

Stiles gaped at him for a full twenty seconds before flinging himself up to his feet. 

“OH MY GOD!”

Derek huffed another breath before closing his eyes and leaning back against the table again. He prepared himself for rejection. 

“Are you seriously… oh my god! You’re seriously asking me to … you want ME to…”

Not wanting to spend another moment suffering this conversation, Derek slowly levered himself to his feet and turned to go. 

“Never mind.”

Stiles immediately snatched at his arm, fingers slipping along the bare skin. 

“Wait! Wait! Give me second! Just let me process this for a minute!”

Derek shook his head and wrenched his arm out of the teenager’s grasp. 

“Don’t worry about it. I never expected you to agree, but Deaton said-”

“I’LL DO IT!”

Derek froze. He couldn’t even bring himself to turn around and stare at Stiles in shock. After a moment of silent stillness, the teen moved to stand before the alpha, meeting his eyes with a confident gaze. 

“I’ll do it, Derek.”

The werewolf shook his head almost imperceptibly. 

“You can’t. Stiles… you _can’t_. This isn’t… there is no divorce from this. Mates are forever, and you’re only seventeen. You have your whole life ahead of you.”

The teen held his head a little higher. 

“And if I don’t, you might lose yours, right? And the pup’s? So it’s not okay for me to sacrifice some theoretical future that I _might_ have, but it’s fine for you to risk your life? And the life of your _baby_?”

The werewolf growled low and turned away toward the door. Stiles’ grip on his arm strengthened. 

“What if this _is_ my future? What if this was the path I was always _meant_ to take?”

The alpha sighed and rubbed a hand down his face. 

“To be with me _forever_ , Stiles? To help raise a kid when you’re still in high school? To never have the chance at a relationship? Or love? For _me_? You don’t even _like_ me.”

Stiles groaned dramatically and smacked the alpha softly on the arm. 

“Jesus fuck, Derek! You brought me here to ask me to do this, and I’m willing to do it! Get that through your thick Cro-Magnon skull! I like you! We _all_ like you! You’ve made some shitty choices, sure, but you’ve done the best you could with the absolute shit pile you were given. For better or worse, you’re our alpha and we want you to stick around! You don’t get to make this decision for me. You told me the consequences, and I’ve accepted them. So just fucking deal with it already, because I’m going to need your help informing my Dad that he’s going to be a Grandpa without taking a shotgun blast to the face.”

Derek snorted and the tension in his shoulders eased out marginally. 

“Now, we need to get to the depot and grab your stuff. Let’s go.”

As the teen started towards the door of the clinic, Derek felt his heart stutter in his chest at the words. 

“What? Why?”

Stiles rolled his eyes and waved a goodbye at Deaton, who had suddenly reappeared behind the counter, _fucker._

“Because I’m damn sure not living in an abandoned train car… so you’re moving in with me.”

~*~

When they reached the train depot, the entire pack was waiting for them. Derek was pretty sure he was still a little in shock at the turn of events that had all just occurred in a single day. A single fucking day. He didn’t even fight or argue when Stiles ushered him into the depot and immediately manhandled him to sitting on the lone couch. The beta’s all shifted around him nervously, even Allison and Lydia seemed off-put by his silence. When Derek continued to remain mute, Stiles sighed and clapped his hands together, the sounded rocketing through the walls of the station. 

“Right, so … Hale pack, we’re dismantling the depot. We need to get rid of any evidence we were ever here. You’ll all need to just stay with your families for a while. I’ll let you know when we set up a new meeting place. It’ll most likely be my house, if my Dad doesn’t kill me first. Isaac, do you have a place to stay?”

The beta in question nodded his head before sending a worried glance Derek’s way. Jackson pushed right up into Stiles’ face and sneered. 

“Why the fuck should we listen to you, Stilinski? You don’t have any authority here.”

With that said, he shoved Stiles hard in the shoulder. In the next instant Derek was lunging at Jackson, snarling and snapping his teeth, trying to rip to beta’s face right off his head. The only thing that stopped him were Boyd’s massive arms wrapped around his chest. The pack was stunned silent and still. Boyd’s deep voice cut through the sound of Derek’s persistent growling. 

“Apparently, he _does_. So get moving.”

They all wandered off quickly, Jackson looking a little worse for wear. Stiles stepped directly into Derek’s line of sight and met his gaze without flinching. 

“Derek, calm down.”

Just those three little words soothed all the roiling emotions inside of him, and Derek had the urge to bang his head against the wall. Apparently his wolf had already decided. Stiles was his mate. He instinctually trusted that he only had the alpha’s best interests in mind. Boyd’s arms slipped away and Stiles turned to address the massive beta. 

“Thanks, Boyd. Can you do me a favor and lose Derek’s bed somewhere? We’ll take care of packing up whatever else he’s got in there.”

The other teenager nodded and set about his task. When Stiles wedged himself through the broken door of the rail car, he seemed fairly surprised to see that not much packing needed to be done. All of Derek’s meager belongings were stashed away in a single trunk. There were some random pieces of clothes scattered about in all their monochromatic glory. Black, white, gray and every shade in between. _So he has a theme. Deal._ The alpha shifted to lean back into the cushions of the couch and observed the teen throw everything he owned into the trunk before enlisting Scott’s help to carry it out to his jeep. 

It was less than an hour before the presence of a werewolf pack completely disappeared from the abandoned depot. Derek was just about to head outside towards the cars when Isaac shuffled up next to him. The beta’s eyes were huge with concern and he fumbled a minute before speaking. 

“Are you … okay?”

Derek just nodded silently in response as he watched Lydia cuffing Jackson on the back of the head for some unseen offense. The newest werewolf flinched before shrugging his shoulders helplessly in confusion. 

“You’re not mad at me for calling Deaton?”

The alpha finally turned to meet his beta’s gaze directly. 

“No. It’s good you did.”

Isaac responded with a tiny smile. Derek sighed before reaching into his jacket pocket and tossing his keys to the beta. 

“You get the Camaro for now, but I don’t want to find a single scratch on it when I take it back.”

The grin that blossomed on the teen’s face was almost blinding. Derek turned quickly away to slip out of the warehouse and lean against the passenger side of Stiles’ jeep. It only took another minute or two for the owner of said jeep to stumble out of the depot and join him at the vehicle. 

“Okay, well that’s almost done. I think we’re good to go ahead and leave. Are you hungry?”

Derek considered the question. He hadn’t eaten all day, but just the idea of throwing up dinner in the morning was almost enough to make him consider forfeiting it altogether. Then Stiles’ stomach growled loud enough to be heard even without the superior werewolf senses. _Well, hell … fuck it._ Derek shrugged his shoulder and was rewarded with a bright smile. 

“Awesome! What’s not making you sick right now? Any freaky cravings yet?”

The alpha had been in the process of sliding into the passenger seat of the jeep, but the words made him pause. The questions themselves weren’t strange, but the reasons behind them were kind of poking his brain with a stick. Shock was warring with incredulity inside his skull. A lot of things from the past twenty four hours were finally starting to sink in. Not the least of which were the fact that a) there was currently a baby growing inside of him, and b) he had essentially agreed to get married to Stiles Stilinski. 

He huffed a laugh before clicking his seat belt into place. 

“Whatever. I don’t care.”

Stiles _‘hmmed’_ in thought before starting the engine and speeding out of the warehouse district. 

~*~

 _‘Whatever’_ turned out to be a fast food burger joint. Stiles jammed curly fries into his mouth while Derek picked at his grilled chicken sandwich and side salad. (Which the teen had badgered him into getting.) Then they stopped at a local pharmacy for calcium shakes designed especially for pregnant women. (Which the teen had badgered him into getting.) After which was a quick visit to a local bookstore for the express purpose of purchasing a copy of _‘What to Expect When You’re Expecting’._ (Which the teen had badgered him into getting.)

Derek sensed this relationship was going to have a theme. 

By the time they made it to the Stilinski residence, Derek was just about dead on his feet. He had enough strength to assist Stiles with dragging his trunk upstairs and stashing it in the teen’s closet, but then he could feel himself wavering on tired legs. Stiles took one look at him and ushered the alpha straight into the teenager’s own bed. Derek tried to protest, but it had been so long since he had slept on a proper mattress that he was out in less that five minutes. At some point in the night he registered the sound of the Sheriff pulling up into the drive and trudging his way up the steps to his room. Thankfully he didn’t stop outside the door, just silently moved down the hall to his own space. 

The next conscious thought he had was the recognition of the sound of a gun being cocked nearby, and the brightness of the sun warming his face. Then the GUN part registered and his eyes flew open. Sheriff Stilinski was poised at the end of the bed, handgun at the ready and a steady glare lasering in on Derek’s forehead. 

“Mr. Hale. Good Morning.”

Derek had to forcefully keep his features into the most innocent and neutral expression he could. 

“Sheriff.”

The sound of the werewolf’s voice caused a commotion of noise and flailing in the corner of the room, and Derek realized that Stiles had been asleep at his computer desk. The way the teen’s eyes widened to an extreme proportion and his jaw nearly hit the floor would have been humorous. Perhaps in a different situation. 

“DAD! NO! What are you doing?!”

Stiles was up in an instant, flinging himself across the room and placing his own body directly between Derek and his father’s handgun. Something in the alpha’s heart unclenched. His wolf practically preened at its obviously _wonderful_ choice of a mate, to step so selflessly into danger to protect he and the pup. (No matter that there was no way the Sheriff was going to shoot his own kid. The wolf kind of turned a blind eye to that little fact.) Derek reached for the little spark in his belly, and the miniscule bond answered him. Reassured him. 

“What I’m doing, Stiles… is wondering why there is a suspected murderer asleep in your bed.”

“Exonerated.”

The word had echoed from both Derek and Stiles’ lips simultaneously, and the Sheriff quirked an eyebrow. The gun, however, was quickly tucked away. 

“I’m thinking an explanation is in order?”

Stiles nodded and sighed in relief as he sank down on the bed. He didn’t even seem to notice that his hand came to rest on Derek’s leg. Derek did. His wolf did. And Sheriff Stilinski _damn_ sure did. The older man crossed his arms over his chest and glanced between them a couple times with a calculating look. 

“Is this where you’re finally going to talk to me about all the werewolves in Beacon Hills?”

There was a second of stunned silence in the room before Stiles erupted into squawks and questions, but Derek’s dinner suddenly chose that moment to announce its desire to vacate his stomach. He launched himself from the bed, hoping desperately that the elder Stilinski didn’t shoot him in the back, and dashed across the hall to the bathroom barely in time to puke the little he’d eaten last night into a much cleaner toilet than he was used to. 

He heaved for what seemed like hours before his stomach gave him a break, and he settled back on his haunches, trembling and sweated. Only then did he realize that there was a cool hand rubbing up and down his spine in a soothing manner, and another dabbing a moist washcloth across his brow. He lifted his gaze to meet the teenager’s hovering over him, surprised to find an equally worried expression on the Sheriff standing in the doorway. The older man stepped forward and offered up a can of ginger ale. Derek blinked at him a couple times in shock before cautiously reaching forward to grab the drink. Stiles wiped at the alpha’s face a few more times with the cloth before nodding toward the can. 

“Just a couple sips. Settle your stomach.”

Derek nodded numbly, but complied. Faced with this sudden kindness from two humans who owed him absolutely nothing … he was a little floored. Stiles took the soda from him and set it on the counter. 

“Can you make it back to the bed?”

The werewolf took stock of himself. His stomach was empty, but calm for the moment. He felt weak, but not debilitatingly so. A quick pulse through the bond to his little spark was answered merrily in return. He nodded and slowly stood. Stiles helped to maneuver him through the doorway and back toward his own bedroom. The Sheriff cleared his throat behind them. 

“I wouldn’t think that werewolves could get a stomach bug.”

The hands carefully gripping Derek’s arms tensed for a brief second before Stiles responded to his father.

“He’s not sick.”

Sheriff Stilinski chuffed a soft laugh. 

“That’s not what that looked like to me, son.”

Stiles sighed, breath ghosting across the shell of Derek’s ear, but the alpha ignored his nearness in favor of staring at the warm/soft/comfortable bed calling to him from across the room. He practically dove into it when it was near enough. He rolled around in the covers, pushing, pulling and tugging until they were all wrapped around him just so and he subconsciously let out a soft rumble of contentment. 

Then he noticed the utter silence of the room. A quick glance over his shoulder found a pair of Stilinski’s with nearly identically bemused expressions on their faces. Derek scowled at them. Stiles snorted and muttered something that sounded suspiciously like _‘nesting’_ under his breath, before coming over to sit on the bed himself, leaning against the headboard, thigh a warm line against Derek’s back. 

“Okay, Dad … so … tell us what you already know.”

For a while after that Derek just listened to the soft cadence of the humans in the room conversing back and forth. He knew Stiles well enough to trust the teen not to slip any information the Sheriff didn’t really need to know into the conversation. So he just listened, and dozed a little, as Stiles recounted the tale of Scott and Peter and Laura (which caused Derek to growl just a little into his pillow). They spoke of Jackson, as the kanima first, and a werewolf later. They spoke of Matt and what he’d done. Lydia and her immunity. Allison and her crazed werewolf hunting family. (Derek growled a little louder that time, and Stiles placed a warm hand on his shoulder.)

They didn’t speak of Kate. 

The Sheriff admitted that he’d had some equally strange and enlightening conversations with Melissa McCall, that led him down the path to his supernatural discoveries. He also told Stiles that he wasn’t the Sheriff based on his stunning good looks alone. Derek found himself wanting to chuckle at the deadpan delivery of the man’s words, and then … it hit him. 

How utterly _domestic_ this all was. 

He felt warm and safe, curled into a ball in a teenager’s bed, with said teenager absently tapping soft fingertips against Derek’s bare shoulder where the boy’s hand still rested. Soft, similar voices filling the room. Discussing his past and present. An authority figure the werewolf knew for a _fact_ was a good man, accepting him here in his home, even though he knew the truth. The bond of something precious nestled deep inside of him. And just like that, he understood what Deaton had meant. How a wolf couldn’t do this alone. 

_My God, Laura, if you could see me right now… you’d be laughing your fucking ass off._

There was a steady rumbling in the room that he wasn’t paying attention to, until Stiles chuckled and shook his shoulder gently. 

“Derek? Are you asleep?”

The alpha opened his eyes (he hadn’t remembered closing them) and rolled slowly onto his back to lift a questioning brow to the boy above him. Stiles smirked. 

“I think you’re purring, dude.”

The rumbling instantly stopped and Derek bared his teeth at the teen. 

“Don’t call me dude.”

A soft snort reminded him that the Sheriff was still present in the room. Perched on the computer chair at the foot of the bed. Stiles glanced quickly at his father and then back to Derek. 

“Dad was asking why you were sick this morning.”

The alpha could feel his eyes widen to match the teen’s, and he quickly scooted to a seated position beside his- … Stiles. The Sheriff, for his part, watched them with a curious and amused expression on his face. Apparently he had taken all the werewolf information pretty well, or perhaps more likely … he was just happy to be in the loop with his son once again. Derek cleared his throat and tried to meet the older man’s gaze, but couldn’t make it further than the collar of his shirt. 

“I don’t have anything, sir. I’m not … ill.”

“Then what’s the matter, son?”

Now Derek’s gaze snapped straight to the older man’s. His throat felt tight, and his heart skipped a beat or two, but there was nothing judgmental in the Sheriff’s eyes. Not any more. There was concern and acceptance, and _fucking shit_ this must be a pregnancy thing because he could swear his eyes were burning like he might cry. He just kept thinking about Stiles saying his dad was going to be Grandpa … and _dammit_ … the alpha cleared his throat again. 

“There’s … there’s something that I thought was just a werewolf legend. And it’s going to sound crazy.”

The Sheriff arched an eyebrow. (Derek internally complimented his technique.)

“Crazier than _werewolves?_ ”

Derek and Stiles both nodded at the same time. The former sending the latter a brief glare before turning back to the older man. 

“Yes, sir.”

The elder Stilinski motioned with his hand for the alpha to continue. 

“It’s extremely rare. But Deaton confirmed it. You can get him to verify.”

Derek risked a quick glance to Stiles, but the teen was captively staring at his father’s face, as if willing the older man not to freak out about what was going to be revealed. The werewolf sucked in a quick breath and just figured… _to hell with it._

“I’m pregnant.”

The Sheriff blinked. Stiles nodded. Derek continued. 

“With a … baby.”

The Sheriff blinked again. Stiles nodded. Derek elaborated. 

“A werewolf baby.”

The Sheriff stood and quickly walked out of the room. Derek turned to the teen beside him, but Stiles was just gaping at the doorway to his bedroom. The Sheriff suddenly walked back into the bedroom and paced the length of the bed a few times before he turned towards them, voice demanding and stern. 

“Is it my son’s?”

Derek blanked. He just … mind-wiped for a minute or two. He barely registered Stiles jumping from the bed and shrilly extolling his innocence. He barely registered the Sheriff declaring that what else was he supposed to think when the two of them were cozied up together in Stiles’ bed. Derek could only really think about one thing. 

_What if?_

What if it was Stiles’ pup he was carrying in his temporary womb? What if the babe had been conceived out of consent? From a bonded pair? Instead of being held down and … instead of … 

“I wish it was.”

His voice was so soft, he didn’t expect them to even hear the words, but the room fell into silence instantly. He could feel the weight of two sets of eyes boring into him, but Derek could only look down at his hands playing absently with the bedding. He licked his lips, then finally lifted his gaze to meet Stiles’ wide eyes. 

“I wish it was yours … rather than-”

There was a pained look in the teen’s eyes, but Derek quickly turned away from it to meet the Sheriff’s instead. 

“Your son and I aren’t together. We’re barely even friends. I haven’t touched him, I swear it.”

The older man nodded and Derek forced himself to continue. 

“Two months ago on the full moon, my uncle found a way to temporarily come back to life. He had me drugged and then he raped me. With the express intention of getting me pregnant with his child. The drugs didn’t wear off in time, but when they did… I killed him.”

The Sheriff sank down heavily into his abandoned chair. The look on his face was stunned, at best. 

“I don’t want pity. I don’t want sympathy. But I do want this child. No matter how it was conceived, it’s an innocent result of a horrible act … and now the only family I have left.”

With those heavy words lifted from his chest, Derek sank back into the comfort of the bed. He was exhausted and a little sick at heart from having to tell yet another person what his uncle had done. He didn’t want to be perceived as a victim. As weak. He closed his eyes to escape any judgment he might be able to read on the faces of the humans in the room. 

The bed dipped as Stiles sat down next to the alpha’s side. 

“Dad… Deaton told Derek that pregnant werewolves can’t survive on their own. They need a partner… a mate… to look after them and protect them when they’re vulnerable. Derek asked me, and I’ve accepted.”

A sharp intake of breath was the only sign that the older man was still involved in the conversation. 

“So even though the baby isn’t mine by blood, it’s _going_ to be mine. A mate bond is for life. So it’s going to be me, Derek and the kid … forever.”

The Sheriff sighed. 

“But you’re not _gay_.”

Stiles laughed and Derek could feel the motion through the springs of the bed. 

“I always told you I _could_ be. But it doesn’t matter. Derek isn’t either. We’ll find a way to make it work. They need me, and I’m not going to let them down.”

The alpha sucked in a quick breath at the words, warmth spreading through his veins. His wolf wanted to howl happily to the pack, tell him his joy, but he stuffed it down. When he finally opened his eyes once more, the Sheriff was staring at him thoughtfully, eyes flicking down to Derek’s abdomen frequently. The older man cleared his throat and shrugged his shoulders. 

“Well … as long as I get to be Grandpa.”

Stiles’ laugh was loud and relieved. He stood quickly to launch himself at his father and hugged him tightly. The elder just shook his head and patted his son on the back warmly. Derek turned away from the affectionate scene to glance out the window. There was a soft clearing of a throat after a moment, so the werewolf turned back to find both Stilinski’s staring down out him. The Sheriff was holding a hand out to Derek expectantly. 

“Sorry, son… but the Stilinski men hug it out.”

The alpha could feel his eyes go comically wide, but he slowly lifted his hand to the Sheriff’s and allowed the older man to pull him to his feet. Almost instantly there were warm arms around him, hands softly patting him on the back, and a smell of age and wisdom that reminded him so much of his own father his knees felt a little weak. The Sheriff stepped back with a smile on his face. He lifted his hand to pat softly at Derek’s cheek. 

“You can call me John.”

Derek nodded absently as the older man turned and walked out of the room. 

Derek spent most of the day dozing lightly in bed while Stiles had gone to school and the Sheriff to the station. His energy level was so low, it was a struggle just to get up and use the bathroom. Sometime around mid-afternoon the elder Stilinski even managed to sneak up on him. He hadn’t heard the cruiser pull into the drive, only just drifting out of sleep to the sound of the man’s footfalls on the stairs. This time, the Sheriff did poke his head into the room. 

“Derek? You doin’ okay, son?”

The werewolf nodded inside his nest of blankets, but didn’t move to get out of bed. The older man stepped closer. 

“Why don’t you come downstairs and we’ll get you something to eat? Stiles magnanimously left me a list of things I was _allowed_ to feed you.”

Rolling his eyes, the alpha freed himself from the covers. The Sheriff chuckled. 

“Yeah… you might want to get used to that.”

When they reached the kitchen of the small house, Derek settled on a barstool and watched the other man begin to slice up an apple. After a few minutes of silence, the werewolf found himself drawn to speak. 

“Are you really okay with this? I know it’s a lot to take in at once.”

The Sheriff laughed softly as he pushed over the tray of apples. 

“Let me tell you something about my late wife. Cheryl would dig through her purse for five minutes to find her last dollar to give to the homeless man on the corner. She would rescue every little lost cat or dog she came across. Once she even stopped her car in the median of a busy road to pick up a turtle that was sitting smack dab in the middle of it. Damn thing peed all over her and she didn’t even care.”

Derek snorted, but remained silent. 

“She wanted to help everything and everyone she possibly could. Even when she was sick. She would ask the nurses to distribute the flowers and gifts she’d been given to the patients who didn’t have anyone to come visit them like she did. She was absolutely amazing. And sometimes Stiles is so much like her it just floors me.”

The werewolf smiled briefly and snatched a slice of apple to munch on. 

“Don’t get me wrong, I know my son’s not perfect. Hell, he’s a teenager, and for the most part they’re all angsty little shits. But he’s a good person. And like his mom, he hates to see people suffering. Especially those he cares about. He’ll just give and give of himself when he thinks it’s needed, and he won’t ask for anything in return. He’s going to be a great man.”

Derek nodded and dropped his gaze to the counter top, picking at a bit of dried flotsam with his fingernail. 

“I tried to talk him out of doing this. I didn’t want him to waste his life on me. He basically told me to shut up and accept it.”

The Sheriff laughed out right. 

“Yeah. That sounds about right.”

The alpha scowled.

“I’m sorry, John.”

The older man snorted and rolled his eyes in a way that was so reminiscent of Stiles, that Derek actually blinked a couple times in shock. Then the Sheriff came around the table to pat the alpha on the shoulder. 

“None of that now, son. It is what it is. I can’t blame you for what happened to you.” 

Derek shifted his gaze away to stare at the apples before him. 

“Now, finish your snack, and then come help me upstairs, would you?”

Nodding silently, the werewolf scarfed down the remainder of the fruit as he listened to the man’s footfalls on the steps. After a couple minutes there was the sound of a door opening and some shuffling of heavy objects. Battling his curiosity, Derek quickly cleaned up the kitchen and double-timed it upstairs. There was a door open across from Stiles’ room that he had never been in before. (Not that he’d been in much of the house beyond the teenager’s room.)

Slipping through the doorway, he was fairly surprised to find a decently sized guest bedroom. There was a large queen bed, a massive dresser/armoire combination, and an impressive stack of boxes in the corner. The Sheriff glanced at him briefly, before he resumed dragging a box toward a walk in closet in the corner. 

“We’ve just been throwing stuff in here lately, for storage, but if we get these boxes into the closet it should be nice enough, don’t you think?”

Derek blinked a couple more times, unconsciously tilting his head a bit to the side in confusion. 

“Nice enough for what, sir?”

The older man flapped a dismissive hand in his direction. 

“None of that ‘sir’ stuff. And nice enough for your bedroom, of course. There’s not much to it… but there is plenty of space for a crib later on, I suppose.”

The werewolf was absolutely stunned for a second. Then he took in the room again with renewed purpose. The bed looked extremely comfortable, the walls were a soft summer yellow, and the window allowed plenty of light and a cool breeze into the space. His room. _Huh._ The Stilinski’s would just never stop surprising him. After another moment of thought, he scooted across the room to assist the Sheriff with moving the boxes into the closet. 

After an hours work, the room was cleaned up, the bedding was changed and fresh, and Derek had drug his hidden trunk into the room to push against a wall. (The appearance of which didn’t seem to faze the older man at all.) The Sheriff surveyed their accomplishments and smiled. 

“Well… that’s done. You look tuckered, kid. Why don’t you give the bed a test drive?”

Derek quirked a small grin at the man before happily slipping under the covers and snuggling down into the pillow top mattress. He heaved a sigh of contentment into the fluffy pillow and immediately began to drift away. The afternoon’s work had taken his small reserve of energy and punched it in the face. In the doorway, the Sheriff chuckled softly and flipped off the light switch. 

“You’ve got about two hours before hurricane Stiles gets home from school. Have a good nap, Derek.”

The alpha had already been claimed by sleep before the other man had a chance to finish speaking. 

~*~

The smell of food woke him some undetermined amount of time later. Soft voices drifted up from the first floor. Stiles and his father were discussing something as they made dinner. Warm laughter tickled at the werewolf’s ears, and a sudden pang of homesickness washed over him. He could remember waking up as child listening to his parents discussing the days plans in the kitchen. It was a sound he had all but forgotten. In his short bout of melancholy, he sent a small surge of affection through the bond to his little spark. It was answered in kind. 

Finally pulling himself out of his cocoon of blankets, he made a pit stop in the bathroom before quietly making his way downstairs. The Stilinski men were settled in the kitchen. Elder grilling some tantalizing steaks on the stovetop, and younger enthusiastically highlighting some … _oh for fuck’s sake_ … the pregnancy book had made its appearance at last. Derek plopped down on the stool across from the teenager, and the boy startled a bit at his sudden appearance before smirking at him. 

“Dad… we’re getting him a bell, I swear to God. I refuse to constantly be startled in my own home.”

The Sheriff snorted, but continued to concentrate on the food. 

“Derek… you’re nine weeks in, right? It’s been about nine weeks?”

The werewolf nodded silently and tried not to think of clawed hands scraping down his sides. Stiles hummed under his breath for a moment and chewed on the end of his highlighter. 

“The heart has already formed. And the fingers and toes are taking shape. The embryo just recently decided what sex it’s going to be, too.”

Stiles looked up to meet Derek’s gaze and grinned. 

“Can you hear it? The heartbeat?”

Derek shook his head. 

“It’s probably too quiet under my own. It’s not like I can put an ear to my stomach to hear it.”

The teenager’s eyes flared with excitement. 

“But another werewolf probably could, right? We could ask Scott!”

The alpha flinched and Stiles seemed to realize what he’d said. 

“Shit. We have to tell them, you know… before they can hear it for themselves.”

Derek nodded and broke his gaze away to stare at the countertop. The idea of admitting his shame to the rest of the pack burned at his throat. Lydia would know exactly what happened. She would count back the days and realize just who had planted the baby in his belly. The mere thought of the pity and disgust that would cross the faces of his beta’s almost made him sick. 

“We’ll tell them it’s mine.”

Shock snapped the alpha’s gaze straight back to the teenager’s. (And apparently caused the elder Stilinski to drop the spatula into the hot pan and curse at the resulting spatter of heat.) Stiles met Derek’s eyes steadily as he continued to speak. 

“You don’t want to be forced to tell anyone else what happened to you, and I can totally understand that. So they don’t need to know the truth. At least not until you’re ready. So, for now … we’ll tell them it’s my baby. It won’t even be a lie, _really_ … because it is _going_ to be my baby … right? I’m going to love it and help raise it and send it off to college one day … sooooooo… is that okay? With you?”

Derek licked his dry lips and considered the boy’s words. He wondered if it was possible to tell enough people that the pup was Stiles’, that he might actually begin to see it that way, too. Forget about the actual sperm donor, and devote his full belief to the idea of Stiles being the baby’s father. Finally he nodded his consent, and the teen’s face broke into a beaming smile. 

“Awesome! Okay … um … there’s probably going to be some questions about … you know … us. How it happened and why you were the one to… you know … get … you know.”

Sheriff Stilinski laughed outright at his son’s discomfort. 

“Stick as close to the truth as you can.”

Both Derek and Stiles turned their attention to the other man, who simply shrugged his shoulders.

“Stiles told me about the werewolf legend. So stick to something close to that. Say it was the rare alignment of the full moon and the stars. Made you act out an urge. Or something.”

The teen nodded. 

“Right… okay, yeah. So the special moon made your wolf, like, desperate to procreate or something. And you couldn’t control it. And you just happened to run across me in the woods. And I was too tempting to ignore.”

The Sheriff groaned and Derek rolled his eyes. 

“I’ll think of something.”

Stiles just grinned even wider and went back to flipping through the pregnancy book. 

“In a couple weeks the skin and fingernails are going to start growing, and the fetus will start making spontaneous movements!”

A small, unbidden smile worked its way onto Derek’s face before he could help it. The Sheriff placed a plate before Derek, piled high with steak and boiled potatoes. He tilted his head toward his son and then rolled his eyes dramatically. Derek snorted. Stiles finally glanced up to them, eyes widening when he took in the plate of food before the werewolf. 

“Dad! You know you’re supposed to cut out the red meat! Why did you-”

“Relax, Stiles. The steaks are just for Derek. We’re having some of those disgusting tofu burgers you love to torture me with.”

“OH! Awesome!”

Derek watched the exchange in stunned silence, before looking back down at his plate. The idea that the Sheriff had made the steaks strictly for him caused a small spike of discomfort. He just wasn’t sure he deserved all the kindness he had received inside this house. The pessimist in him _(and let’s face it, it far overruled the optimist)_ just kept waiting for the older man to pull his gun and demand the monster to get the hell out of his home. 

He didn’t really speak again during the meal, choosing instead to observe father and son as they bickered back and forth about the food. Then put their heads together to contemplate some of the diagrams in the book. Stiles asked his dad questions about when his mom had been pregnant with him. The Sheriff happily supplied everything he could remember, then mentioned trying to find Stiles’ baby book later that week. Derek watched them with more than a little fascinated awe. Although there was a tempered sadness to the conversation whenever the late Mrs. Stilinski came up, both men were practically sparkling with excitement. 

The alpha was a little humbled by it. And far, far outside his comfort zone. When it got to be a little too much, he decided it was time to retire for the evening. His eyelids were already drooping, and there was an itching need under his skin to burrow beneath the covers of his bed. He stood slowly and deposited his plate in the sink before turning towards the stairs. 

“Don’t forget your vitamin.”

He turned to meet Stiles’ gaze. The teen’s eyes were wide and warm, a small smile played across his lips. Derek blinked once, and it was an Herculean effort to pry his tired eyes back open. A small sound of distress rumbled in his throat when he thought of venturing to the bathroom to retrieve the pill, when all he wanted was to sleep. 

“I’ll bring it to you.”

Stiles was already sliding from his chair, when Derek turned and ambled his way up the steps toward the guest room. As soon as he spotted the large, downy bed a mewl slipped through his teeth and he dove into the covers. By the time he was done tugging and pulling and wrestling them into the perfect cocoon, Stiles was standing next to the bed with an amused grin and a bottle of water. 

“You are completely hysterical with the nesting thing.”

Derek growled under his breath, but took the pill and water the teen held out for him. Stiles watched him swallow it down, then took the water to rest it on the beside table. The werewolf nuzzled his face into the softness of his pillow and the teenager chuckled. Stiles flicked off the light as he left the room, tossing a _‘goodnight’_ over his shoulder. 

~*~

He woke with a start, sweating profusely beneath the blankets with the ghost touch of claws trailing down his back. Before he could even consider what he was doing, the alpha was already in motion. He padded silently across the hallway and into Stiles’ bedroom. There was a huddled shape in the teens’ bed, and Derek quickly lifted the covers and settled against the warm body there. Stiles mumbled something in his slumber, but didn’t wake. 

Derek plastered himself against the younger man’s back before burrowing his nose into the crook of Stiles’ neck. He breathed in deeply, then released a contented sigh. His wolf settled, being so close to its chosen mate, and the unease from his fevered dream slipped away. Feeling safe and protected, it only took minutes for the werewolf to drift off into a much more peaceful rest. 

Some time later, the chatter of birds outside poked at his consciousness, but he resolutely ignored them. He could feel the warmth of the sun rising in the sky filtering in through the window, but he wasn’t really ready to return to wakefulness quite yet. 

“Derek?”

His pillow rumbled in time with the softly spoken word, but he only growled in response and nuzzled his face closer into the warmth that smelled of home and hearth and mate. His pillow sighed, and a gust of warm breath drifted across his neck. He shivered at the pleasant feeling, then darted his tongue out to quickly taste the heat that enveloped him. A sharp gasp accompanied the motion, and the taste of salt and sweat and _Stiles_ burst across his tongue. 

Derek finally allowed his eyes to drift open. He was greeted with a close up view of the smooth skin of the teen’s neck. Perfect little spots of moles dotted across the pale expanse. He hummed in contentment and lapped a long stripe across the flesh. A soft purr escaped his throat, but the body below him tensed. 

“Derek?”

The confusion in the voice finally punched through his happy haze and the werewolf froze. He pulled away from the warmth and met a pair of startled brown eyes. It took a second for everything to compute. He was in Stiles’ bed. He was laying mostly on top of Stiles. He had been licking Stiles’ neck quite happily. Derek blinked. Stiles cleared his throat nervously. 

“You… you with me now, big guy?”

Derek nodded slowly, but he just couldn’t force himself to move away from the teen. This was the best he’d felt in _months_ and he was wary to sacrifice it. Extremely cautiously, the werewolf dropped his head back down to rest on the boy’s shoulder. He had one arm wrapped firmly around Stiles’ waist, and the teen’s long legs were tangled with his own. The body beneath him was still tense, and Derek tried to ignore the sinking feeling in his belly. He didn’t want to name it as _rejection_ … but the fear was there. 

“I’m sorry … I … I need this.”

Stiles exhaled a gust of air and relaxed marginally. 

“Is it a … mate thing?”

Derek nodded against the boney shoulder under his cheek. Stiles sighed.

“I think we need to talk about this. What do you… what do you actually need from me? What does this all entail?”

The werewolf licked his lips and considered his options. He supposed honesty was key.

“I just need … _you._ A mate is supposed to be a partner. An equal. It gives us safety and security. Support when we feel weak. Companionship when we feel alone. Protection when we feel afraid. Strength when we’ve … given up hope. A balance to our failings. A half to make us whole.”

He could feel Stiles swallow roughly, throat bobbing against Derek’s nose.

“And you want this from _me?_ ”

Derek nodded slowly.

“Even though we’ve never really… gotten along? Even though I’m just an annoying teenager that you barely tolerate?”

The alpha sighed and clenched his arm around the boy’s middle a little tighter.

“I’ve never wanted a mate, Stiles. Not after- … If this hadn’t happened I probably would have never sought one out. But I have more than myself to think about now, and Deaton was right. You are a good match for me. You balance me out. I’m sorry I had to bring this on you. I’m sorry that I’ve ruined your future. But I don’t want this pup to die. I … I need it.”

Stiles made a soft _‘tsking’_ sound deep in his throat. 

“You haven’t _ruined_ my future, Derek. You’ve just _changed_ it.”

The werewolf scoffed, and the teen whacked him gently on the back of the head, which he answered immediately with a throaty growl. 

“Stop being such a downer wolf. I already told you that it was fine, and I _meant_ it.”

Derek shrugged. (In so much as he could, practically octopussed around the younger man.) He could hear Stiles lick his lips above him, preparing to say something. 

“Can I … can I feel it again? The … pup?”

Derek lifted his head to meet a determined gaze. He nodded after a moment, and untangled himself from the teen to lay flat on his back. Stiles slowly lifted himself to a seated position next to him. The teen carefully pulled down the covers of his bed, and then gently pushed up the hem of Derek’s sleeping shirt to bare his belly. The alpha sucked in a quick breath when the warm palm settled on his skin. He closed his eyes and concentrated on the little spark, as well. It flickered and pulsed, and Stiles let out a soft laugh. 

“That is so _awesome._ ”

Derek grinned and opened his eyes to find Stiles smiling right back at him. There was a moment of buzzed electricity that crackled between them, and the teen’s eyes went wide. His gaze flickered down to the werewolf’s mouth briefly and Derek felt a sudden stirring of butterflies in his gut. Stiles cleared his throat and absently began to rub small smoothing circles around the alpha’s navel. 

“So, the mate thing. How do we… I mean … is there like a ceremony? Or a tradition? What do we do?”

The older man shook his head slowly. 

“Not really. My wolf has already recognized you as his mate. The connection is already there, although it’s weak because… you haven’t reciprocated.”

Stiles tilted his head slightly and his hand stilled its motions.

“How do I reciprocate?”

Derek broke his gaze and glanced toward the door. The Sheriff was up and moving around. 

“You don’t need to do it. It’s fine as it is.”

The teen stiffened from his relaxed slouch.

“Derek. How. Do. I. Reciprocate?”

The werewolf sighed and closed his eyes. 

“You bite me. I bite you. It solidifies the bond. Marks us as claimed.”

Stiles sucked in a startled breath. 

“But if you bite me-”

“I’d use my human teeth. The intent wouldn’t be there. You wouldn’t be turned. I promise.”

“But it has to break the skin? Leave a permanent mark?”

Derek simply nodded in response. Stiles was silent for several moments. Then suddenly he shifted on the bed. The warm weight of another body settled gently on top of him and the alpha’s eyes flew open. The teen was hovering over him, throat bared directly above Derek’s mouth. 

“St-Stiles?”

The human hummed softly before bringing an arm up to cradle around the werewolf’s head, forcing Derek’s lips to press against the offered flesh. Derek could feel himself shaking slightly as he opened his mouth and carefully closed his teeth over the tender skin. Stiles was practically vibrating with nerves above him, so he wrapped his arms around the teen’s back to steady him, then snapped his teeth closed quickly to try and make the bite as short and painless has possible. Stiles gasped at the shock of it, and Derek diligently lapped up the pearls of blood that had bubbled to the surface. 

When he pulled back to admire the bite, Stiles was flushed and shivering. Derek slowly arched his head back to bare his own throat to the teen. He watched through slit eyelids as Stiles slowly lowered his head and took hold of the alpha’s neck with his own teeth. There was a deep inhale of air through the boy’s nose, before he suddenly bit down has hard as he could. Derek keened loudly at the feel of human canines piercing his flesh, and just like that the bond between them snapped into place. 

_Mate! Mate! Mate!_ Screamed the wolf gleefully. 

The little spark inside him flared strongly with the sense of _Pack! Mother! Father!_

A low, rumbling purr of contentment was filling the room as Stiles tentatively licked at the blood of the wound exactly as Derek had done, but the werewolf couldn’t bring himself to halt the happy sound. The soft, shuffling noise of the Sheriff’s footfalls stopped just outside the door, and Derek opened his heavy eyelids slowly. The elder Stilinski’s eyebrows were high on his forehead, but there was a strange little smirk gracing his mouth. He gestured towards the stairs with his head and Derek nodded slightly in the affirmative. Then the Sheriff was moving off toward the downstairs, whistling a strange little tune softly on the way. 

Stiles finally pulled back into a seated position beside him once more. He was blushing to the very tips of his ears and refusing to meet Derek’s gaze. 

“So that’s … done, then? Are we officially werewolf-married?”

Derek felt a pang of disappointment at the flippant response and grunted in reply. Stiles cleared his throat. 

“Okay, so, awesome!”

Then the teen was scrambling off the bed and practically running out of the room towards the bathroom. The alpha sighed heavily and forced himself to his feet. There was no nausea yet this morning. Gratefully, he slid his palm across his belly and padded silently out of the room and down the steps. The Sheriff was breaking eggs into a sizzling pan, but turned to smile at him as Derek entered the room and slid onto a barstool at the kitchen island. 

“So … that looked _official._ ”

Derek nodded quickly as he absently began to chew on his bottom lip. He refused to meet the older man’s eyes, and could scent the spike of worry that accompanied his actions. 

“Derek?”

His shoulders hunched in response to the concern in the Sheriff’s voice, but he resolutely stayed silent. The sound of Stiles drifting around upstairs, preparing for school, was repeatedly punching an odd ache in his chest. The wolf reached out happily for the sense of _mate_ through the bond, but there was no response forthcoming. Either because the human teenager didn’t understand the message he was receiving, or because he was purposefully blocking it. 

A plate of scrambled eggs was placed before him on the counter, and just like that the nausea hit. He practically flew off the barstool and scrambled on all fours to the little half bath downstairs. Tears were burning at his eyes as his stomach emptied itself, painful stinging in his throat echoing the cramping of his insides. In a moment of desperation he sent a plea through the bond to his mate, begging for comfort. Again, it was blocked. A mournful howl broke through as soon as the dry heaves stopped, and a blinding wash of rage filled him to the brink. 

Without really being aware of his actions, he roared in a fit of anger and slashed at the toilet before him. The porcelain screamed as it was gouged deep with his claws. The alpha flew to his feet and slammed his fist into the mirror above the pedestal sink. Glass flew everywhere in a shower of sharp little shards. He turned to the wall behind him and roared again in contempt. Long claws slashed and tore at the flowered wallpaper, ripping long strips off the wall to flutter around him. 

Gradually, a voice began to break through the white noise filling his ears. 

“DEREK! DEREK! OH MY GOD! DEREK!”

 _Mate!_ His wolf howled at him. This time when he sent a pulse through the bond, it was answered tentatively, begging for calm. For reason. He sank to the floor, back pressed against the destroyed wall and panting huge gasps of air. The red rage eventually seeped out of him and he turned his gaze toward the men standing shocked in the doorway of the tiny bathroom. His mate looked terrified and worried. The werewolf panted out staccato words in the sudden silence of the house. 

“You… didn’t… answer.”

A sad little keen worked it’s way out from deep in his throat.

“I … needed … you … and … you … blocked … me.”

Stiles’ eyes widened almost comically as he carefully maneuvered through the broken glass towards Derek.

“Jesus fuck! I’m so sorry… I didn’t … I didn’t know.”

The teen cautiously settled himself on his knees next to Derek’s side. Those lovely, warm hands gently pushed the werewolf’s hair back off his sweated forehead. Derek keened low again. He pushed desperately at the bond again, and this time it opened wide for him. He gasped and slipped his eyes closed at the warmth of it surrounded him and held him close. The wolf dancing in glee in his mind. Stiles kept stroking his hair softly and spoke in a hushed tone. 

“I’m so sorry. I’m sorry. I didn’t know what it was. I just ignored it. I didn’t know what it was.”

Derek licked his dry lips. Tasted blood. Probably from the millions of projectiles that had once been a mirror. 

“You can’t - you can’t ignore me.”

He could feel the air displacement as Stiles nodded frantically next to him. 

“I won’t! I promise that I won’t!”

Derek nodded his own head in acknowledgement to the boy’s vow. 

“Fuck, Derek. Jesus. Can you stand? Come on… let’s get you cleaned up… you’re a mess.”

The werewolf opened his eyes and struggled for a minute to stand. He hissed under his breath as the pinpricks of sharp glass sliced into his feet. A sudden realization of what he had just done overwhelmed him, and he glanced around the destroyed bathroom nervously. When he turned back to the door, the Sheriff was watching them anxiously. 

“Sheriff! I didn’t mean to … I’m sorry-”

The elder Stilinski held up his hands in a placating gesture.

“Don’t worry about it. I always hated that wallpaper, anyway.”

Stiles snorted beside him, where Derek was leaning into his side. The teen was guiding him toward the stairs, when the Sheriff spoke up again. 

“Stiles… I think you should stay home today.”

The teen whipped his head around to stare at his father, eyebrows rocketing up in surprise.

“Dad?”

The older man sighed and pinched at the bridge of his nose. 

“There’s obviously some things you two need to talk about, and I don’t think Derek should be alone today. I’ll call into the school for you. You two just … go clean up… get some rest. I’ll be home later.”

Stiles was frozen and tense beside him for several moments as he watched his father leave the house. Derek waited patiently, wincing a little as the cuts on his feet and knuckles began to knit back together. He took a tentative step forward, meaning to move away from the teenager’s hold, but it only served to bring Stiles back into focus. The teen ushered him up the stairs as if he was made of nothing more substantial than spun glass. Derek wanted to huff and snarl at the treatment… but he couldn’t find it in himself to do so. 

“Go ahead and get in the shower… I’ll get you a clean pair of pants. You want jeans? Sweats?”

Derek shook his head just barely. The tightness of his jeans was starting to annoy him, but the sweats made him too hot. If he could get away with staying in his underwear all day, that’s probably what he would do. He didn’t have many other choices at the moment. Stiles clucked his tongue at his non-response. 

“Dad’s got some super soft cotton pajama pants that should fit you. That work?”

The alpha just nodded silently and shuffled over to the shower to turn on the spray. Stiles hovered in the doorway. 

“Most of your pregnancy is going to be in the summer. You’ll probably be really hot and uncomfortable. Maybe we could go shopping? Get you some shorts or something?”

Derek turned to the teen and met a clear and open pair of amber eyes. Stiles was being completely sincere. He wanted to do things for him. Help him. Take care of him. If things hadn’t been what they were, the werewolf would be snapping and growling at the human to leave him alone, leave him be. But as it was, now, the teen’s continued thoughtfulness left a curl of warmth deep in Derek’s chest. 

He nodded in response to the suggestion, and Stiles slipped out of the bathroom, closing the door behind him. Derek stripped slowly and stepped into the spray of the shower. He closed his eyes and just enjoyed the heat of the water sluicing over his skin for a few minutes. He had never been one to take long showers, but he was feeling weary and a bit greedy at the moment, so he spent nearly a full half hour washing and rinsing and just generally enjoying the thick humidity of the air. 

When he finally turned off the water and stepped out of the stall, there was a pair of pajama bottoms folded up neatly on the sink and his dirty clothes were gone. The pants were ice blue and covered with … dancing cartoon penguins. He growled low in his throat at the idea of wearing something so ridiculous, fully intending to only shove them on long enough to go and demand something slightly less humiliating. After he dried off and jerked them on, however … he paused. The cotton was so thin and soft it was almost like wearing nothing at all. They were… the most comfortable thing he’d ever worn in his entire life. 

He rubbed curiously at the fabric against his thigh for almost a full minute before deciding _fuck it … the Sheriff was never getting these things back. Ever. Dancing penguins be damned._

When the werewolf stepped out into the hallway, Stiles was leaning against the wall opposite and grinning like a loon. The teen laughed loud and hard as soon as he spotted him. 

“Oh my God!!! Please let me take a picture! Please!”

Derek snarled at the boy, flashing his eyes red briefly, before stalking past him into Stiles’ own bedroom. He flopped down on the teen’s bed and rolled around until he managed to get the bedding _just right_ , then puffed out a sleepy sigh. There was a click from a camera phone that let the alpha know the picture had been taken anyway. He rumbled deep in his chest, but Stiles just chuckled from the foot of the bed. 

“My room, my rules, Sourwolf.”

Derek sighed again and allowed his tired eyes to slip shut. 

“Aaaaaaand speaking of my room … why are you, um … in it?”

His eyes popped open again. He hadn’t even considered going into the guest bedroom and the bed that was essentially his. Instinct had driven him to seek out his mate’s den for the comfort and security it provided him. He shifted sideways in order to meet the teen’s gaze. Stiles was just smiling at him, request for an explanation clear in the raise of his eyebrows. Derek cleared his throat and moved to push himself off the mattress, but then Stiles was suddenly there and gently forcing him back down. 

“It’s okay. I’m not asking you to leave. I was just curious.”

Rolling over to lay on his back, he held Stiles’ gaze steadily. The younger man’s eyes briefly flicked down and the werewolf watched as his throat bobbed around a swallowed gulp. Derek realized that the already low-slung pajama pants and been pulled dangerously lower during his shifting around on the bed. Stiles’ cheeks pinked just slightly as he averted his gaze to the wall directly over the alpha’s shoulder. The wolf inside Derek hummed in contentment that his mate obviously found his body attractive. There was a sudden urge to preen before Stiles. To show that he was supple and strong and capable of providing a pup for his mate. Without even thinking about it, Derek hitched his hips a little higher off the bed. 

The motion caused the teen’s eyes to instantly snap right back to Derek’s exposed belly, and Stiles’ mouth to immediately drop open in a gape. Just as quickly, Derek realized what he had just done and slammed his eyes closed, throwing one arm across his face to cover his own sudden flush. Stiles cleared his throat and nearly croaked out his next words. 

“So … um … so … I guess we should talk about what happened downstairs.”

Derek only grunted in response. 

“What… I mean, why did you flip out? And take it out on an innocent bathroom?”

Pulling a deep breath into his lungs, Derek spoke without removing the arm that covered his face. 

“We _bonded,_ Stiles. I told you want it would mean. I told you that I would need you. I reached out and I couldn’t touch you. I lost control. It was a moment of weakness, I won’t let it happen again.”

There was a displacement of air as the teen moved around the bed, then the mattress sank as he dropped to sit next to the werewolf’s head, backed up against the headboard. 

“You’re going to have to give me a bit of a learning curve here, Derek. Lowly human remember? I didn’t know what to expect from the … bonding. I felt something, but it was fuzzy and strange. I just ignored it. I’m flying by the seat of my pants here. You have to teach me. You have to actually use your words.”

Derek heaved his most put-upon sigh and finally allowed his arm to drop away from his face. He kept his eyes closed, but concentrated on the bond with his mate. He sent a soft little push to Stiles, and a second later the teen next to him gasped. 

“Okay. Okay. So that’s you.”

Derek hummed in the affirmative. 

“Now you try, Stiles. There’s no way for me to really explain how… it’s just … it’s _there_. If you have to, maybe picture a string that’s tied between you and me. Let your mind travel along it. Send a simple thought. Or a feeling. Softly. Not too strong.”

He could hear the rustle of fabric as Stiles nodded above him. The gently flutter of his eyelashes as he closed his eyes. The deep inhale of air into his lungs. A second later a spike of _sweet-salted-caramel-desire-arousal_ lanced through the connection. Derek gasped loudly has his eyes shot open and his back arched high off the bed. It sparked all along his nerves and left him panting as it dispersed. Everything tingled from the top of his head to the tips of his toes. The little spark inside of him gleefully sent _FATHER!_ Through their own bond. 

“Oh my GOD! Did I do it wrong? Did I mess it up?”

Derek could only shake his head mutely as he tried to get his body back under control. He was still shivering in place at the intensity of the push through the bond. Stiles continued to apologize and freak out next to him, but Derek tuned him out for the time being. He sent a wave of requested calm through the link before he finally gathered himself to speak. 

“It’s okay. It was fine. Just a little … intense.”

Stiles swallowed audibly before he sank back into the bed like a boneless rag doll. 

“Jesus fuck… that scared the hell out of me. I thought I’d electrocuted you with my brain or something!”

The werewolf couldn’t help but allow a soft chuckle to spill out. He relaxed back into the bedding and let his eyes drift closed once again. Stiles shifted beside him to lay down as well. After a few minutes of surprisingly comfortable silence there was a little _poke_ through the bond. Derek’s mouth quirked up just slightly in an amused grin. He responded with a gentle _poke_ right back and Stiles giggled softly beside him. 

The alpha wasn’t even sure when they had fallen asleep, he just knew that he had been warm and safe with his mate’s heat pressed against him on the bed, when the soft sound of the window opening jolted him into consciousness. The scent of another wolf assaulted his nose, and even as his human side recognized the bond of a pack mate, his wolf hind brain was screaming that another male had invaded his den with the intent to challenge his mate and kill his pup. His resulting roar rattled the windows and the other wolf threw itself backwards to huddle in the corner of the room. Derek was preparing himself to leap into the attack just when two arms wrapped themselves firmly around his chest and caused him to face plant on the mattress instead. 

He snarled and growled, but recognized his mate’s touch and did not attack. Although he couldn’t understand why his mate wasn’t going after the intruder. Why wasn’t he protecting their pup? Derek struggled and thrashed in his mate’s hold, snapping his teeth threateningly at the wolf in the corner. He refused to let anyone hurt his pup. He would rip them apart before they even got the chance to try. There was a prod at the bond… his mate asking him to calm down. The alpha howled in pained betrayal. 

_PROTECT THE PUP! WHY WON’T YOU PROTECT OUR PUP?_

His mate gasped behind him and fell silent. Derek continued to growl low and deep until, without any warning, his mate’s teeth clamped down hard on the back of his neck and a loud _STOP IT_ shot through the bond. The alpha instantly went limp and compliant. His mate’s teeth released him slowly, and for several moments the only sound in the room was their harsh panted breaths. 

Gradually, Derek’s mind cleared enough for him to recognize that Isaac was cowering in the corner of the room looking genuinely terrified. _Fuck._ Derek closed his eyes and buried his face into the blankets beneath him. Dimly, he realized that Stiles was lifting his weight off Derek’s back and cautiously rubbing his warm hands up and down the alpha’s spine in a placating motion. Derek whined his embarrassment in the back of his throat. Stiles sighed and shushed him before turning his attention to their visitor. 

“Isaac? You okay? I promise it’s safe to get up.”

There was the soft sound of the other wolf straightening from his crouch and shuffling closer with a healthy amount of trepidation. Stiles continued to rub Derek’s back and hold up most of the conversation. 

“It would probably be best from now on if you gave us a little warning before coming in. Everyone, I mean … if you could relay the message.”

Derek could practically hear the bounce of Isaac’s curls as he nodded his head quickly. Stiles’ kept rattling on in the absence of other’s voices. 

“Aaaaaaaaaand… you would probably like an explanation for what just happened, and we’ll get there… maybe … but first… why are you here?”

The other wolf cleared his throat. 

“You weren’t at school… I got worried about Derek. Since we … haven’t heard anything. I just wanted to make sure…”

He trailed off and a pang of guilt slammed into Derek’s gut. Between finding out about the pup, outing his pack to the Sheriff and bonding with Stiles … he hadn’t given much thought to his beta’s recently. Telegraphing his intention clearly, Derek pushed himself up off the mattress and Stiles rolled off him to settle against the headboard again. It hit the alpha at that moment that Stiles had been straddling Derek’s hips and pretty much sitting on top of his ass. He fought the flush that was threatening and pushed backwards to reclaim his sprawled position on the bed. After all that exertion, he was too tired to sit up. 

Isaac watched him with wide eyes, the scent of worry rolling off him in waves. Derek motioned him over, and the next instant the younger werewolf was kneeling beside the bed, head at the level of the alpha’s chest. Derek’s lips twitched at the eagerness of his beta, and he placed a hand on the mop of blonde curls, give the teen’s scalp a little scratch of affection. Isaac’s worry practically melted away from him in a pool of contentment. There was a soft click of a camera phone and Derek growled without turning towards his bed partner. Stiles snickered. 

“Don’t mind me … I’m just documenting everything for- …. Posterity.”

The beta werewolf’s eyebrows soared to his hairline as Derek only responded with an exasperated sigh that sounded fond, even to his own ears. 

“Isaac… I’ll tell you what’s going on, but you have to promise not to say anything to anyone else, yet.”

The teen nodded and Derek reached out to take the younger man’s wrist. He tugged it toward his belly, pressed the large hand in his grip on the skin. A bolt of happiness flared between the bond with his mate, and Derek felt inexplicably warm and content. 

“Focus and you’ll feel it.”

Isaac nodded and closed his eyes. After several moments of peaceful stillness, the beta gasped. His big eyes flared open wide and immediately sought out his alpha’s. The little spark inside Derek was pulsing with the closeness of a pack mate. A small smile flit across the beta’s mouth and Derek responded with a quirk of his lips. Stiles leaned forward and placed his own hand atop of the beta’s and whispered softly. 

“Meet the newest member of the pack … Uncle Isaac.”

Isaac whipped his gaze to the human teen’s. 

“Stiles… is it … are you…”

The human cackled gleefully before he nodded and removed his hand.

“Yup.”

He popped the ‘p’ of the word loudly and Derek sighed. Sleep was creeping up on him again, but he knew he wouldn’t relax fully until the other wolf was out of the den. 

“Isaac, get back to school. Call a pack meeting for Saturday… here, I’ll make sure it’s okay with the Sherriff first, tell you what time.”

The beta startled visibly. 

“The Sherriff?”

Derek nodded. 

“Knows. Everything. It’s okay.”

The beta only blinked at him a couple times before nodding. He stood slowly and seemed reluctant to remove his palm from Derek’s belly. The alpha gave a quick little growl, and Isaac responded with a blinding grin a second before he booked it out of the room and through the window. As Stiles got up to shut and lock it after the beta, Derek allowed his eyes to drift closed. The mattress shifted when the teen came back to sit beside him. 

“Are you hungry? Thirsty?”

Derek just shook his head a little in response. He hated that he was just so damn tired all the time. It felt like he was going to end up hibernating his way through the pregnancy. He felt so fucking useless and weak. And he was still a little embarrassed about losing his shit when Isaac had come through the window. Some of his thoughts or feelings must have telegraphed through the bond, because suddenly there were long fingers gripping his wrist and a vibration of upset spiking from his mate. 

“Hey!”

The alpha slit his eyes open just a fraction to meet a determined amber gaze. 

“You’re not weak. You’re creating an entire new life inside you, do you realize that? Would you ever consider telling a pregnant woman that she was _weak?_ ”

Derek shook his head.

“It’s not the same.”

Stiles growled, and Derek took a mental pause to be impressed.

“It IS the same, you ridiculous wolf! You are growing a whole new person! A new werewolf! And that fact that you shouldn’t even be able to do that makes it, like, _doubly_ impressive! There’s a baby.”

The teen placed his hand softly over the alpha’s navel. 

“In here. A BABY, Derek! How fucking _cool_ is that?”

The alpha rolled his eyes, but could feel a flush of pleasure color his face. Stiles’ hand lifted until just his finger tips were resting on Derek’s skin. Almost absently, he began to trace patterns with them across the werewolf’s stomach, the slightly ticklish movement causing Derek’s abdominal muscles to flex and dance beneath those fingers. When he lifted his gaze toward Stiles’ face… the teen’s eyes were unfocused, like they were staring at the empty middle-space between them. 

“You’re going to be a daddy.”

Stiles’ voice was soft, but the words were weighted down with several tons of meaning. Thick with emotion. 

“Derek … you’re going to be someone’s _daddy_.”

The werewolf snatched up Stiles’ fingers with his own, and the teen’s eyes snapped to his. Derek squeezed the hand in his grasp and took a deep breath before speaking. 

“So are you.”

Stiles only blinked several times in response, mouth popped open in a daze. Derek tugged on the captured hand in his hold and growled low in his throat. 

“Stiles… so are _you._ ”

The teen suddenly laughed loud and bright.

“Hell YES, I am!”

Derek relinquished his grip as the teen hopped off the bed. 

“I’m gonna be the coolest Dad that has ever BEEN! All the other kids in the sandbox are gonna be all ‘Damn, Baby Stilinski-Hale! Your Mom is terrifying as shit with his judgmental eyebrows of doom, but your DAD is totally epically awesome! We envy you for the coolness of your Pops!’”

Derek snarled and flashed his eyes red. 

“I. AM. NOT. THE. MOM.”

Stiles nearly choked on a fit of giggles.

“Dude, you are… you so TOTALLY ARE! Derek Hale… you are currently my baby momma. The sooner you learn to accept this fact-”

The werewolf moved to leap up from the bed, and Stiles took off like a shot down stairs. Cackling loudly the entire way. Derek sighed and sank back into the comfort of the teen’s mattress. A warm tingle of mirth was pinging back and forth through the bond as he listened to Stiles moving around in the kitchen. The smell of apples and sharp cheddar cheese being sliced for a snack made his stomach rumble. He turned to face the open door of the bedroom and raised his voice loud enough so that normal human ears could pick it up. 

“Bring me water! And why are you so obsessed with my eyebrows?”

Stiles laughed again downstairs, and the alpha found a smile twitching across his lips as well. 

Saturday came before he was really prepared for it. Objectively, he knew that the pack needed to be informed and that all sorts of contingency plans needed to be made … but he just wasn’t ready. It didn’t help that that morning when he’d gotten out of the shower, he’d actually paid attention to his body for the first time in the mirror. There was a … softening … just a barely visible loss of definition in the muscles around his navel. The towel in his hands had dropped from lax fingers as he stared. 

He turned to the side, then back to the front, then to the other side. Whatever angle he saw it from… it was there. A teeny, tiny, blink and you’ll miss it … little bump. A miniscule beginning of a baby bump. His back hit the wall with a thud, and his own eyes in the mirror were wide and scared. He skirted his fingers across the little bump and took a deep, calming breath. Stiles had gone to the store to procure enough food to feed a house full of werewolves, so Derek could only send a faint signal through the bond. He asked for support, and support was returned to him. 

“Derek?”

Apparently he had been in such a daze that he hadn’t even heard the Sheriff come into the room. 

“You okay, son?”

Derek absently wondered what he looked like to the older man. He was slouched, naked, against the bathroom wall with a terrified expression on his face and his hand covering his belly. Nudity didn’t bother him. Werewolf family, after all, but he could see the Sheriff was pointedly trying to keep his gaze eye level. Derek nodded and turned toward the other man. 

“There’s … there’s a bump. I just noticed it.”

The Sheriff grinned. 

“Yeah?”

Derek nodded before quickly scooping up his towel to wrap around his waist. John backed out of the doorway so that Derek could walk into the guest bedroom and put on his clothes. 

“I remember when Cheryl was pregnant with Stiles, it seemed like one minute it was this cute little bump and the next … bam! … full on belly. She was fairly petite, too… so she would always bitch and moan about looking like she had a basketball shoved under her shirt. Prettiest thing I’d ever seen, though.”

The Sheriff’s tone had drifted from happy memory to full on melancholy in those few sentences. Derek turned back toward the older man, but he was already shaking himself out of his reverie. 

“Anyway, I came up to tell you that Doctor Deaton is downstairs. He said it’s important and that he would rather not wait for the pack meeting.”

A spike of worry lanced through him, but he quickly stifled it. He didn’t need Stiles to sense it and freak out in the middle of the grocery store. Derek nodded in response and swiftly pulled on the recently cleaned penguin pajama pants and a soft white tank. The Sheriff smirked at the pants, but remained mum on the subject. 

Deaton was seated at the kitchen island sipping a cup of coffee when they came downstairs. As soon as Derek saw the vet’s face, he knew something was wrong. He forced himself to stay calm and block the signal to Stiles. The teen was still learning about the bond, he likely wouldn’t even notice for several minutes. The vet cleared his throat, and Derek decided to just jump right into it. 

“What’s wrong? What did you find out?”

Beside him, John froze for a second before settling a hand on Derek’s shoulder. Deaton sighed as he placed his mug on the counter. 

“I’ve been … requesting information. From several different sources. About the legend … and your current situation.”

Derek snarled and moved to take a step forward, but the Sheriff’s grip on his shoulder held him in place. 

“I haven’t given away anything about you or your pack. I’ve been very discreet, I promise you.”

“And?”

Deaton crossed his arms over his chest as if he were bracing himself. 

“And … it’s not … good news.”

The air suddenly left Derek’s lungs in a rush and he sank down blindly onto one of the barstools. The Sheriff remained at his side with his warm hand on the alpha’s shoulder. Just the fact that the elder man smelled so much like Stiles kept his wolf calm. 

“How bad?”

Derek was so glad, in that moment, that John was there … because he hadn’t been able to form the words himself. Deaton’s posture sank, just a little, and Derek felt sick. 

“The legend always talks about the Alpha, and the pups he created… but there was nothing specific about the carriers. So I wanted to try and find out what I could about the reality of the tale. In the recorded history we have on werewolves this has only happened twice before. The first one was likely the birth of the legend. The second was probably just a desperate werewolf and dumb luck. This one-”

“Was all Peter. He was the researcher in our family… he must have found something, somewhere.”

Derek shifted on the stool after he had spoken. Memories surfaced of the Peter before the fire. Always reading old tomes and rifling through family files. He had liked his Uncle Peter… _loved_ him unconditionally. But when he thinks about that night … he wonders if there were actually anything of his Uncle left. He really hoped not. 

Deaton cleared his throat to bring Derek back into the present. 

“Yes. I’m sure he did. But I think there’s something he didn’t know about the two times this had taken place in the past. The carriers never survived the birth.”

There was a sharp exhale as the Sheriff fell back onto the barstool behind him. Derek remained silent as the doctor continued to speak. He felt numb. 

“The … magic, as it were, creates the womb and connects the baby to the carrier for nutrients and support. But in a body that is not made to house it, the uterus becomes like a cancer. Multiplying and growing to support itself, but to the detriment of the body. As far as we can tell from the history, neither of the carriers were supernatural creatures so there may be a chance … but it’s slim. And I wanted you to know.”

Derek nodded and reached to the small spark inside him. It responded instantly to his request and he closed his eyes. The little spark had recently begun to feel … female. He couldn’t be sure yet, obviously, but there was something about it that reminded him so _much_ of Laura. The alpha rolled his shoulders and then opened his eyes to meet Deaton’s gaze head on. 

“The pups survived both times, though?”

The vet nodded solemnly, but behind Derek the Sheriff visibly flinched.

“Derek-”

He stood quickly and moved a couple steps away from the two older men before he turned back around to face them. 

“No. The pup is first priority. If it has a chance, then we see this through to the end. If I don’t make it … then I just … don’t. Alpha will pass on to Scott, who will hopefully not screw it up, and the Stilinski’s will raise the pup. It’s fine. It’s … it’s _fine_.”

There was a soft tap at the bond, and he had to swallow back a sob. His mate was checking in. Making sure he was okay. 

“And we don’t tell Stiles. This stays between the three of us.”

The two older men both jumped to their feet and immediately began to raise their voices at him. He allowed them for a moment before he flashed his eyes and roared for quiet. Deaton’s gaze was thinly veiled steel and frustration, but the Sheriff just looked glassy eyed and wrecked. Derek ignored the vet to step up to Stiles’ father. 

“If it comes to it. If it becomes obvious that I won’t … I’ll tell him, I promise. But he doesn’t need to worry about it for right now. We’ve still got six months, and I would rather not spend that time having everyone hover over me like there’s a noose around my neck. If it’s all I’ve got, then I want to actually _live_ it.”

Something flinted across the Sheriff’s gaze, and Derek remembered Mrs. Stilinski. How it must have been for her husband and son to watch her slowly fade away. From the way her family remembered her, she must have hated having them worry over her so much. The Sheriff lifted his arms to grip Derek’s shoulders firmly with his hands. The older man nodded once and then cleared his throat. 

“Okay. Okay, son.”

Deaton made a small sound under this breath and Derek whipped his gaze around to snarl at the man. The vet didn’t react except to take one last sip of coffee and turn toward the front door. 

“In a couple more weeks I’d like you to stop by for an ultrasound. You should be far enough along for us to get a good idea of what’s going on inside your body. At that time we’ll have to discuss the measures we’ll have to take in order to go about a c-section.”

He turned back to raise a single eyebrow at them while he opened the door. 

“Obviously, you won’t be having the pup _naturally_ … so we’ll have to improvise.”

With those final words the man was gone, and next to Derek the Sheriff shuddered. 

“I hate cryptic partings left by cryptic people, don’t you?”

The alpha actually chuckled under his breath. There was another poke of concern at the bond, and Derek opened the floodgates, only sharing the humor he felt at John’s words and carefully hiding any concerns about the future. Stiles’ response was immediate and happy, ecstatic that Derek and his father were getting along so well. The werewolf’s stomach took that moment of silence to gurgle loudly in hunger, and the Sheriff laughed. 

“Come on… lets get that baby some food.”

~*~

He wasn’t hiding. Derek Hale didn’t fucking _hide_. He’s the _alpha_ , dammit. 

He’s just … avoiding. 

The first of his pack had turned the street to the Stilinski’s house and he’d had a sudden urge to flee the premises. So now he was sitting in the bathtub of the second floor bathroom in his penguin pajama pants listening to the full house downstairs. Isaac had informed everyone that the Sheriff was now ‘in the know’ and the group of teens were currently basking in the attention of an adult. Sharing stories and exploits of the last year. The alpha could tell that John was suitably horrified by a lot of what they’d done, but was trying really hard not to let it show in his voice. 

Derek just stared at his bare feet pressing against the opposite end of the tiny tub. He wiggled his toes. Stiles said the pup should be developing its fingers and toes right now. He wondered if she (he was getting more and more sure it was a girl) would have his toes. Maybe she would have Laura’s toes. Maybe she would have Laura’s _everything._ A tiny version of Laura. He grinned. She would be a hellcat and a terror and absolutely _amazing._

He hoped she didn’t get too many traits from Peter. Although Peter’s hair color was similar to Stiles’… so that … that wouldn’t be too bad. And John had blue eyes just as bright as Peter’s had been … so even if she got those he could say it was from her Grandpa. That would be okay. Yeah. 

There was a quiet knock on the bathroom door. He could tell it was his mate. 

“Derek?”

The door cracked open and Stiles poked his head in. 

“Are you going to hide in here all day?”

The alpha growled. 

“I’m not hiding. I’m avoiding.”

Chuckling, the teen slipped into the room and shut the door behind himself. 

“And what are you avoiding?”

Derek shrugged. He wiggled his toes again and thought about the pup doing the same. 

“Instinct.”

“You’re avoiding instinct?”

The werewolf rolled his eyes and sighed dramatically as he pulled himself to his feet. 

“No. Instinct is telling me I shouldn’t be down there in the open with all those wolves. It’s telling me to stay up here and keep the pup safe.”

Stiles nodded. 

“Okay … but you know they’re not going to hurt you, right? These are your betas… and they’re all still kids. None of them are born werewolves, so the instinct to seek out weakness in their alpha probably isn’t even there. You have to trust them, Derek. They’re your pack.”

He opened the bathroom door and Derek took a deep breath. 

“They’re probably going to laugh at your penguin pj’s, though … I’m just saying.”

Derek growled. 

“I fucking love these pants.”

The teen snorted and patted him on the shoulder. 

“I know, big guy. Let’s do this. Dad and I will be there the whole time, okay?”

He grunted in response and followed Stiles down the stairs to the ridiculous amount of noise the pack was creating in the main living room. The closer he got, the more he could feel the hackles of his wolf raise in irritation. When they passed the kitchen someone stepped up behind them, and although Derek could recognize it as Isaac, he was starting to feel cornered. A low level growl was emerging deep in this throat before he could help it. 

When they turned the corner to walk into the living room… there was instant silence. Boyd and Erica shot to their feet, eyes flashing, and he tried to take a step back but Isaac was now in the doorway. _Cornered! Cornered!_ He could feel his fangs lengthen and his face shift. He roared a threat that had the picture frames rattling on the walls. Behind him Isaac shifted abruptly and Derek all but flew forward to the other side of the room. He braced his back against the wall and crouched low in a defensive stance. 

Now everyone had jumped to their feet and his growling was reaching manic levels. 

_TOO MANY! TOO MANY!_

Something blocked his vision. His mate was suddenly standing between him and the other wolves. 

“OH MY GOD!!! Would all of you please sit down and stop acting threatening!?”

Isaac immediately plopped straight to the floor and the alpha was so proud of his beta for obeying his mate. It took a few more moments for the others to follow suit. Derek snarled and snapped at them from around his mate’s legs as they finally complied. The Sheriff had dropped down next to Isaac and was patting the teen on the shoulder affectionately. Derek rumbled a purr of approval. 

Scott was the last standing. Always stubborn to the end. The alpha’s mate was raising his voice. 

“Dammit, Scott! Sit down!”

“Why? What’s wrong with him? If he’s gone feral-”

“Oh, for fuck’s sake, he hasn’t gone _feral_ … you’re just threatening him right now and his wolf brain is in an over-protective agitated state. Don’t make it worse.”

Scott finally eased himself down next to his hunter girlfriend and the alpha snapped his teeth at him in reprimand for arguing with his mate. 

“Alright, you big sourwolf… that’s enough of that. We need rational Derek right now, not I’ll-eat-your-face-off-for-looking-at-me-sideways Derek.”

His mate kneeled down in front of him. The alpha stopped his growling as the room grew silent around them. His mate’s long, lovely fingers came up to frame the alpha’s face and a happy noise rumbled out of his chest. He leaned in close to nuzzle at the warm skin of his mate’s neck, ignored the sharp inhales from around the room. 

“You gotta come back, big guy. This is your pack. They aren’t going to hurt you, remember?”

The alpha rumbled another happy purr and tilted his head back to bare it for his mate. He remembered his mate biting him on the neck and bringing back the calm. Someone wheezed from far away, but he didn’t pay attention because his mate was leaning forward and biting hard at the curve of his neck. 

Derek gasped loudly and immediately sank back against the wall, ass hitting the floor with a thump. He could feel the wolf slip away from his mind and his visage. Stiles had released his neck and was making soft, shushing noises as Derek tried to calm his breathing. There was a shuffle of movement to his right, and when he turned to look Isaac was trying to move closer to him along the wall. Derek reached his arm out toward the beta and motioned him forward. Isaac practically dove into Derek’s side, wrapping his arms protectively around the tiny bump of the pup. 

Stiles chuckled at the beta and shifted until he was leaning against the wall next to Derek, visually presenting them as a united front to the stunned room around them. The Sheriff had even scooted closer to Isaac’s side in his show of support. Boyd and Erica slinked off the couch to sit on the floor and moved slowly towards them. Isaac growled low at them in warning and they stopped moving closer. 

On the couch Scott, Allison, Jackson and Lydia just looked completely floored by the past few minutes. After several tense seconds, they all slid to the floor one by one and moved forward to join Erica and Boyd. Scott whispered into the heavy silence. 

“Stiles… what the hell is going on?”

Next to Derek, his mate grinned and leaned forward. 

“We’re going to have a story time, boys and girls… and you’re all going to shut up and listen for a little bit, okay?”

Jackson started to sneer, but Derek snarled at him and the beta dropped the attitude. Stiles reached over to pat Derek’s knee approvingly. 

“In werewolf families there is a legend of a lonely boy. A very lonely boy who was also an alpha.”

Derek cocked a curious eyebrow at his mate. That was exactly how his mother had begun the tale. Stiles snorted at the look on his face. 

“What? You thought I wouldn’t look it up? Now tell your eyebrow to be quiet.”

Isaac giggled as Derek rolled his eyes and Stiles continued. 

“The very lonely alpha had no pack, nor territory to call his. His only friends were the Great Dog Star and its little pup. He would speak to them every night about his solitude. No other wolf would mate with him because he had no family nor land of his own. He would cry and howl at the moon in sorrow and the Great Dog Star would try to console him. One day the little pup told the lonely alpha that the Great Dog Star would soon play chase with the moon and some of his brightest brothers and sisters. On that night, for just a few moments, while all the bigger stars played their game the little pup would glow brighter than it ever had before. And if the lonely alpha coupled with another creature at that moment, any creature, the little pup would gift him with a pup of his very own.

The lonely alpha was so excited that he immediately ran through the woods and snatched up as many creatures as he could find. A dozen or more were gathered by him with great anticipation. A stag, a boar, a fox, even a man from a nearby human village. When the moon rose that night and the stars began to play, the little pup told the lonely alpha it was time, and so he coupled with every creature he had gathered. When the sun rose in the morning he was drained to near the point of death, but by the next year the alpha was no longer lonely, because he had a dozen young pups to keep him company.”

It took a few minutes for Derek to realize that he had closed his eyes during Stiles’ story. It was almost the exact way his mother had told it and a honeyed warmth had seeped into his chest during the telling. The others in their gathered circle were quiet for a couple moments before Jackson _(being Jackson)_ had to break the silence. 

“So… what does a story about a werewolf raping a fuck-ton of animals have to do with Derek wigging out?”

Derek tensed, but before anyone could notice Lydia plowed an elbow into Jackson’s ribs… _hard._

“Jesus, Jackson! Try to think outside your narrow little box every once in a while, okay!” 

Jackson just wheezed at her while he held his side. Lydia scooted forward another foot. 

“Okay, so look for the truth in every legend, right? So obviously Stiles told us that story for a reason. What’s the breakdown? There’s a werewolf. Planetary alignments. And suddenly things are pregnant with werewolf babies that shouldn’t be pregnant with werewolf babies, right?”

Derek was impressed that she cut to the chase that quickly, but she was studiously avoiding his gaze… so he figured she already knew all there was to possibly know. Beside him, Stiles beamed at the red-head like she had hung the fucking moon and Derek felt a little sick at heart. He remembered overhearing about the teen’s epic crush on Lydia, that as far as he knows… had never stopped. Suddenly Allison gasped and gripped Scott’s arm tightly. 

“Stiles! Stiles! Are … are you … pregnant?”

Scott suddenly screeched. 

“OH MY GOD! ARE YOU PREGNANT WITH DEREK’S BABY!?!”

There was an uproar of sound from everyone questioning Stiles, but his mate only laughed and shook his head. Isaac wrapped his arm a little tighter around Derek’s middle and the alpha sighed. 

“NO! He’s not!”

The pack silenced and turned to their alpha. Derek groaned and leaned his head back to rest against the wall. A wave of encouragement traveled through the bond from his mate. Derek closed his eyes. 

“I am. I’m pregnant.”

A shockwave of silence seemed to go through the gathered pack. Derek opened his eyes, gaze centered directly on Lydia. She had one delicate hand covering her mouth and her eyes were wide with terror and wet with tears. He silently begged her not to say anything. Scott cleared his throat and snapped Derek’s attention away from the redhead. 

“Whose… I mean… whose-”

“It’s mine.”

Stiles smiled wide and bright. And Scott passed out. 

~*~

When Stiles had moved away to help Allison drag her boyfriend to the couch, and the Sheriff had gone to find out if their first aid kit had smelling salts, Boyd and Erica had inched closer to Derek. Their eyes were wide with wonder and Isaac grinned broadly at them. 

“It’s so amazing. You guys should feel it. Derek? Can they?”

Derek sighed and nodded. He opened his other arm and the two betas scurried close to his side. Isaac quickly grabbed their hands and gently placed them in position. Derek closed his eyes. He was beginning to understand why pregnant women bitched about people constantly touching their stomach. He called out to his little spark to meet more pack and she pulsed warm and bright in greeting. Erica squealed with delight and Boyd … Boyd giggled. Like a five year old. 

_Jesus Christ, this kid was turning them all into one big Lifetime movie. Shouldn’t there be a Christmas pageant, soon? Is the homeless man with the heart of gold going to turn out to be an angel? Will the poor widowed single mother find true love in the arms of the town’s newest ’bad boy’? And fuck you very much, Laura, for making him sit through all those god-awful things._

Jackson whined in the back of his throat and scooted a little closer on his knees. Derek rolled his eyes and made a motion with his hand, and then the asshole beta was there, too. Fingers splayed next to Erica’s with his mouth dropped open in a shocked little ‘o’. After a couple moments of silence, the alpha starting feeling his wolf twitch with agitation. It was all well and good that his pack had showed they still submitted to him, and were protective of the pup… but he still felt the overwhelming urge to duck away to the safety of a den. 

Scott was finally beginning to rouse from his faint. (And Derek secretly hoped that Stiles gave the beta shit about that for _years_ to come.) Allison was patting his back and doing her best to keep him calm. Stiles was helping Scott to his feet and laughing at him, with Lydia at his side. Irritation bubbled up in Derek’s gut before he could help it. He snuffled out a soft warning growl, and the betas around him immediately removed their hands and backed away. He shifted to push himself to his feet and suddenly his mate was right there. Derek could only stare at him as Stiles helped the alpha up with gentle hands, which continued to rest on the werewolf’s arms even after they’d made it upright. 

“You okay?”

Derek nodded slowly, then gave in to temptation and leaned forward to rub his face into the curve of Stiles’ neck. He wanted his mate to smell of him and him only. He tucked his nose up into the skin behind the teen’s ear and took a deep inhale. The scent of his mate brought comfort and calm back into his mind, and he rumbled a soft purr of contentment. 

There was a soft clearing of a throat in the silent room. Derek’s eyes snapped open and met Scott’s incredulous ones directly. The beta laughed a little hysterically before speaking. 

“Uh… Stiles? Can we maybe finish with the… the explanations?”

Stiles chuckled and pulled away just enough to meet Derek’s eyes. 

“You tired?”

The alpha could only nod wearily. His mate smiled gently and rubbed his warm hands up and down the werewolf’s arms a couple times in a comforting manner. 

“Okay. I’ll take care of the rest of the meeting. Why don’t you go rest? You can listen in from upstairs, and add in anything if you want. That work?”

Derek just nodded again and slipped out of his mate’s grasp, grateful to be able to retreat back to his room. He turned away from the silent group and trotted towards the stairs. 

“Did you take your vitamin this morning?”

He froze in his tracks, shoulders hunched up guiltily towards his ears. 

_Oops._

Stiles sighed, but before he could speak the Sheriff chuckled. 

“I’ll get it for him. As you were.”

Derek took the opportunity to book it up the stairs. When he reached the hall that separated his room from Stiles’ he paused. The urge to tumble into his mate’s bed was strong, but he wasn’t sure what Stiles wanted the pack to know. If they heard him get into Stiles’ bed it might make the teen uncomfortable. Sighing, he slipped into the guest room and flopped face down into the mattress. He’d heard the explosion of voices as soon as he’d left to room, but he was tuning them out until Stiles got them all under control. 

The Sheriff padded into the bedroom with a bottle of water and the prenatal vitamin. Derek shifted to his side and quietly accepted both from the other man. John simply smiled at him, patted Derek on the hip and retreated back down stairs to the chaos. After taking the pill and setting the bottle on the bed stand, Derek curled up under the covers and focused on the conversation taking place below him. 

_“I don’t understand what else you’re expecting me to tell you, Scott. Derek is pregnant. In the family way. With child. Carrying a pup. Which happens to belong to me. He is Mommy. I am Daddy.”_

Derek growled. 

_“He just growled at you.”_ Thank you, Isaac. 

Stiles sighed dramatically. 

_“I figured he would. He is slow in accepting that he his my big bad momma wolf, and before you confirm it Isaac, I am aware he probably just growled at me again.”_

Derek snorted. 

_“Anyway, yes … magical mystical moon powers were at work, but let this be a lesson to the rest of you that you should always cover up. I mean, obviously I didn’t … but who would have thought that ass-babies were ever really a viable option, yanno? Certainly not me.”_

_“Stiles.”_

_“Sorry, Dad … I will refrain from speaking of ass-babies. Or sex. Although, damn you, Scott! As my BFF you should at least be happy for me that I bagged, like, the hottest dude in town! Hands down winner of sexiest werewolf award!”_

Derek felt himself inexplicably flush a little across his cheeks and the tips of his ears. On the first floor Scott made a distressed noise. 

_“You think Derek is a sexier werewolf than me?”_

Lord save him from teenagers. Stiles gagged. 

_“Dude! You’re like my brother! That’s disgusting! Can’t you just congratulate me for punching my V-card without getting all caught up in the jealously?”_

_“Stiles.”_

_“Sorry, Dad … but Scott questioned the hotness of my baby momma, and that shit just don’t fly.”_

Derek jammed his face into the pillow and roared. 

_“He just growled at you again.”_

_“Yes, thank you, Isaac, I’m pretty sure we all heard that one. My boo is just sensitive about losing his figure.”_

Erica burst into laughter and that was just about all of that Derek could take. He tore his face out of the pillow and bellowed as loud as he could. 

“STILES!! I WILL RIP YOUR FACE OFF WITH MY CLAWS AND SHOVE IT DOWN YOUR THROAT WITH MY FIST!”

Silence. For two beats. 

_“Uh… he just said-”_

_“I got it, Isaac.”_

There was a push of apology and affection through the bond and Derek groaned into the mattress. He understood that Stiles was, in effect, deflecting too many specific questions by keeping with this ridiculous conversation … but it was picking at the alpha’s last nerve of the day. 

_“Anyway, Scotty… all you guys need to know is that this is happening. This is real. We’ve already got Deaton working on keeping Derek and the baby healthy and strong, but the fact is… this is dangerous. To both of them. It’s a fluke of werewolf biology and possibly magic. He’s running a lot on instinct right now, which is making him very overprotective and skittish around anything he deems a threat. Hence the reason he’s holed up here. It’s my job as daddy wolf to protect him and keep him healthy and safe.”_

Derek rolled over onto this back and sighed. Stiles was actually doing a really good job of providing the pack only the basic information without giving too much away. He spread his hand across his belly and closed his eyes. Wiggled his toes and imagined his little spark doing the same, again. 

_“What does this mean for all of us?”_ Boyd. First words Derek had heard from him all day. Stiles was quiet for several seconds before speaking up. 

_“It doesn’t really mean anything, does it? I mean… Derek is still your alpha. He’s just going to have to refrain from leading training sessions and stuff for a bit. Scott, I’m sure you can help with that, right? Then when the baby comes, it’s just going to be the pack plus one. And let’s not kid ourselves here, it’s going to be the cutest, fluffiest, most adorable plus one you’ve ever seen in your LIFE, right? And it takes a pack to raise a pup, so everyone will be involved and he or she will be the most spoiled rotten, fashionably dressed little werewolf the world has ever seen.”_

If preening had a sound, Derek was pretty sure the females of the pack were currently making it. He could just imagine Lydia, Erica and Allison putting their heads together to furnish a nursery, buy clothes, and compete with Suri Cruise for tiniest fashionista award. They were going to flip right the hell out if he was right about the pup being a girl. 

_“So what do you need us to do, Stiles?”_

God bless Isaac. Seriously… Derek was pretty sure he was his favorite. 

_“Well, now that Dad’s in the know, we’ll move the weekly pack meeting here. Thursday nights as usual. We’ll do our normal twenty minutes of serious business to be followed by movies or games or whatever. I can’t guarantee that Derek will attend all of them in person, but he’ll be here and you’ll be showing him your support… so that will be good. Scott, if you will continue to run whatever super secret wolfy training sessions Derek’s been drilling you with, I’ll take care of making plans for the next full moon._

_I know you all take turns patrolling the territory. I would appreciate it if that continued and this house was added to the route. Just make sure you don’t come in unannounced. For now I think we should all just keep our heads down, noses clean, and pray to God nothing supernatural or creepy catches wind of us until the alpha is back up to speed. Does that work for everyone?”_

_Son of a bitch._ Stiles being all assertive and taking charge of his betas was making Derek feel a little … maybe a _lot_ … heated and itchy. In a good way itchy. Like when an itch has been driving you absolutely fucking crazy and you finally manage to scratch it _just right_ , inducing a sort of toe-curling full-body tingle of euphoria. Yeah. Kinda like that. He arched his back a little off the bed as warmth began to pool way down south. 

Murmurs of assent came from the gathered group downstairs. 

_“Right, awesome. So if nobody objects, we’ll break it off for the day.”_

A spike of arousal shot through Derek’s system and he pushed his hips up into the air. Fuck. He didn’t know what the hell this was… hormones, mate-bond or what… but this was neither the time nor the place. 

_“Okay, so you guys can … uh … you … you can…”_

_“Stiles? You okay, son? You look a little flushed.”_

_Double fuck._ The bond between them was currently wide open and Derek was gaining a gradually thickening cock and the urge to piston his hips up into empty air. He bit his lips until the tang of copper splashed over his tongue just to remain silent from werewolf senses. 

_“Yeah… uh … yeah… you guys need to go… NOW.”_

There was a lot of commotion and confusion drifting up from the lower level, but at this point the alpha just couldn’t be bothered to give a damn. He hadn’t even _thought_ about sex since the night Peter came back to life. Hadn’t touched himself once. Almost as if it had subconsciously become a taboo subject in his own mind. So maybe that was why it was coming back to bite him in the ass with a vengeance right now. 

He was fully erect at this point. Swiveling his hips in little figure eights into the warm air of the room. There was a sheen of sweat building up on his skin, making the fabric of his tank catch and stick just a little. A low growl tumbled out of his throat as he arched his neck back until the top of his head was dug deep into the pillow. 

“Um…”

The soft voice of his mate was coming from just around the corner of his door. 

“Everyone’s gone. Even Dad. He went into work. So you can … you know … go to town. I’ll just be… you know, somewhere… doing … doing something.”

The pitch of Derek’s growling deepened with each syllable that passed his mate’s lips. He wanted to see the teen. Wanted to touch him. He just _wanted._

“Stiles.”

 _Fuck._ His voice was ridiculous. He didn’t even sound like himself. Too breathy and deep. In direct contradiction (because, _of course_ ) Stiles’ voice came out thready and high-pitched. 

“The book said you would get a little heightened libido at some point, you know. Completely natural. Nothing to be embarrassed about or anything. Although I have no idea what set you off… unless it was the thought of ripping my face off, which I sincerely hope it wasn’t because I can’t see that falling under any form of healthy relationship with your-”

“Stiles… come _here_.”

He was overheating. _Jesus fuck._ He was burning up from the inside out. Regardless of what popular opinion may believe, Derek’s sexual experiences were few and far between. It was a little difficult to have an intimate encounter with another person when the woman who pretty much stole your virginity ended up brutally murdering your entire family shortly there-after. _So yeah. Derek Hale. Not so much for relationships._ He and his right hand got along fairly well, though. 

Right now, he didn’t want to partake in that particular past time. Right now he wanted to connect physically with the mate he was bonded to emotionally. Right now he was curious if he could convince former monumental-pain-in-his-ass Stiles Stilinski to possibly assist him with a handy-j. _And seriously… fuck his life. Fuck it hard in the ass without lube._

Somewhere right now Laura was doubled over in fits of laughter. He just _knew_ it. 

“Yeeeeeeeeah… uh… I don’t think I should do that, Derek. I think I’ll just stay out here. Where it’s safe. Where I can’t see what you’re doing… because you know I’m just a mere teenage boy with a libido that’s higher strung than a tightrope walker, right? And I can’t guarantee that whatever your currently doing won’t result in the immediate popping of chubbage, you know… and I would rather you not _actually_ rip my face off for getting aroused in your presence or what-”

Derek snarled and finally pressed his palm against the obvious tenting in his pajama pants. 

“STILES!”

“OH MY _GOD!_ ”

There was a thump that sounded very much like a forehead being knocked against a wall. It repeated a couple times before a shadow slipped around the corner and through the doorway. Derek focused his eyes on the teen’s face. As soon as the younger man had made visual contact with the bed, he’d slumped dramatically against the doorjamb. 

“Oh. My. God. Seriously. You can’t do this to me, Derek. You can’t … that’s just… that’s just not _fair_.”

Derek sucked his own bottom lip into his mouth and between his teeth. His bit down hard as he continued to grind his hips into the air, pressing against the palm of his hand in glorious, glorious friction. Stiles had slapped a hand over his own eyes and was groaning weakly. 

“Fuck. Oh my God. Fuck.”

The alpha whined, high and pained, and reached a hand out towards his jittery mate. 

“Stiles. Stiles, _please_.”

The teen sucked in a quick gasp before dropping the hand that covered his face and taking a tentative step forward. His face was flushed pink and his eyes were dilated and glassy. He reeked of nervous, sexual energy. 

“Okay. Okay. SHITFUCKSHIT. Just… just try and remember that you asked me to come over there, okay? Just don’t kill me.”

Derek groaned. 

“I’m not going to kill you, Stiles.”

The teen giggled, hysterical and shrill, but he still shuffled forward until his shins were bumping at the edge of the mattress. He was practically vibrating in place with nerves, but there was a strong punch of arousal coloring his scent as well. Derek whimpered softly and stilled his hips to press firmly down on his cock. Stiles swallowed so strongly that his throat clicked. 

“That is so, so-so-so-SO not fair.”

Quick as he could, Derek darted upwards to snatch Stiles by the wrist. He pulled the teen down until he was sitting beside Derek’s hip on the mattress. At this point Stiles was breathing harshly through his nose and flushed straight up to his hairline. Maintaining eye contact on the younger man’s face, Derek tugged the teen’s wrist forward until he was forcing that large, heated hand to flatten on the alpha’s belly. Slowly and deliberately, Derek pushed that hand lower and lower until Stiles’ fingertips were slipping underneath the waistband of the ridiculous penguin pants. Stiles sucked in a sharp breath as his fingers caught the crown of Derek’s cock where it was trying unsuccessfully to escape right out of said pants. 

“Oh my God.”

Derek whimpered again, a pleading whine erupting at the tail end of the noise. He released the teen’s wrist and pulled his arm away to flop back onto the mattress. He was leaving it up to Stiles now. He wasn’t going to force anything more than this. His request and intentions were known, it was up to the boy if he would follow through with them. 

Stiles took a sudden, steadying breath, and the next second his long fingers were wrapped around Derek’s dick and the werewolf fucking _keened._ Stiles made a soft shushing noise under his breath and then slowly began to stroke up and down the length of Derek’s cock. It was dry-going at first, until the younger man rubbed his palm over the crown and collected some pre-come to slick up his hand a little. The alpha whimpered as the pace picked up, he tried to piston his hips again, but the damn pants were causing all sorts of issues with range of motion. 

“Shh.. Shhhh… I’ve got you.”

Stiles’ voice was soft and warm in the room. The teen’s other hand grabbed at the waistband of the pajama pants and carefully pulled them down enough to free both his occupied hand and Derek’s straining erection. The werewolf gasped a little when he was exposed to the air of the room, but it was so much easier now to shove his hips upward, and he started fucking into Stiles’ hand in earnest. The teen’s heartbeat was pounding loud in Derek’s ears, quick like a jack-hammer, and he was practically panting instead of breathing. 

“Jesus, Derek… you look…”

Apparently complete sentences were beyond Stiles current mental capabilities, but Derek could understand that right now. His thrusts were getting stronger and quicker, and Stiles was pretty much just holding on, providing a hole for Derek to fuck into with his fingers. The curling heat of an impending orgasm was beginning to sweep through his body. Before it was too late Derek snagged the hem of his tank and pulled it upwards, exposing his overheated stomach and chest, and jammed the cloth into his mouth. He bit at it with his teeth and snarled his upper lip, trying to keep himself silent. 

_He also really kind of fucking hated coming on his clothes, okay?_

Stiles was babbling at an increasingly higher rate of speed, but all Derek could hear was the roaring of his own blood in his ears mixing with the thundering of Stiles’ heartbeat. Then his orgasm was knocked out of him like he’d been hit with a Mack truck. His back arched high off the bed, and his hips froze, and he gasped loudly around the cloth in his mouth. There was a splatter of warmth across his abs, and after several seconds of absolute brain-freeze, he slammed back onto the mattress utterly boneless and spent. 

It took a bit for him to realize that he had closed his eyes, and when he opened them Stiles was still sitting beside him looking rather stunned. His hand was still curled loosely around Derek’s softening cock, but his eyes were fucking _riveted_ to the come staining the alpha’s stomach. Derek couldn’t even find it in himself to speak when the boy started to bend slowly forward. The room was completely silent as he watched Stiles leaning over him. Derek’s chest was heaving slightly when the teen’s tongue darted out and licked a stripe of white right off of the werewolf’s skin. 

Derek could feel his own eyes widen to a comic level as he watched the teen push his come around inside his mouth like he was sampling fucking _wine._ There was a thoughtful scrunch to Stiles’ eyebrows before he pursed his lips and made an _‘eh’_ face. Like the taste was somewhere smack in the middle of incredibly delicious and disgustingly horrifying. He must have finally felt Derek’s gaze on him, because he turned his eyes to the werewolf and promptly froze. 

They stared at each other for several moments before Derek’s hips twitched unconsciously and Stiles seemed to remember that he was still holding alpha cock. The teen back-pedaled so viciously he fell straight off the bed. Stiles’ dick was still pushing at the zipper of jeans, probably painfully, so Derek moved to sit up and offer a little reciprocity. Before he could even speak the teen was out the door like his pants were on fire and slamming into the bathroom. Derek listened as the door locked and the shower kicked on, then flopped back onto the bed and tucked himself back into his pants. 

He gracelessly yanked the tank top off over his head and wiped his stomach clean before tossing the dirty cloth across the room. He never would have done that normally _(Seriously, he really fucking hated coming on his clothes, okay? Werewolf nose. You do it once and they never really stop smelling like jizz, alright?)_ but he was feeling a little off-balance with the way his mate had bolted from the room. 

Derek sighed, then shifted until he was under the covers and properly cocooned. Stiles was pretty silent in the shower, but Derek was under no delusions about what the teen was doing, he just didn’t understand why his mate wouldn’t want to do it with _him._ Unless. 

Unless Stiles was dead set on being straight and this bonding was strictly platonic in his mind. 

The alpha hunched his shoulders, pulled the covers up over his head and whined softly into the cottony warmth. He didn’t pout. He didn’t sulk. And he wasn’t fucking _pining,_ no matter what the hell the little voice in his head that sounded a lot like Laura said, _fuck you very much._

He was just post-orgasm sleepy and planned on taking a very long _(lonely)_ nap. 

Yup. 

The next several days passed in a blur of repetition and avoidance on Stiles’ part. The teen would be gone long before Derek managed to drag himself out of bed, and return home in time for dinner and schoolwork. The bond stayed wide open and supportive, but when they were in each others’ physical presence, Stiles would be nervous and embarrassed. It was making the alpha feel grouchy and irrational. If the Sheriff noticed a shift in the tension, he never acted so. Would just smile a little knowingly at Derek and keep whatever his thoughts were to himself. 

Five days into the weird new dynamic, Derek was shocked awake by another nightmare. His family, bloody and covered in ash, screaming at him that he deserved every second of torture as Peter painfully fucked into him from behind. He lay in bed for several moments unable to control the low-level whimpering and whining that escaped him. Before the reluctant hand job, he would have crossed over into Stiles’ bedroom without a second thought, but now he just wasn’t sure how he would be received. 

There was a sound of movement from across the hall and Derek bit into his lower lip. He listened intently as Stiles rose from his own bed and shuffled to stand outside Derek’s door. The werewolf whined low and pleading, embarrassingly desperate for a little comfort. The door slowly creaked open, and his mate poked his head inside the room. 

“Derek? What’s wrong?”

The alpha rolled over onto his belly and jammed his face deep into the pillows. He was still trembling slightly from the after-effects of the nightmare. Soft footsteps moved into the room, door clicking shut behind them. Eventually the mattress dipped beside him and a warm hand came down to rest lightly in the center of his back. 

“Derek?”

He shook his head in the pillow to signal that he didn’t want to talk about it, and Stiles only sighed in response. Fully expecting the teen to leave again, he was shocked when the warm weight of a body settled in next to him in the bed. The hand on his back began to rub soothing circles. Derek felt himself calm and settle more comfortably into the mattress. He didn’t think Stiles would speak again. Obviously, he was wrong. 

“I’m sorry for all the weirdness lately. It just really threw me for a loop, that’s all. I mean, dude … _sex._ Like, I totally jacked you off. Never in my multitude of teenage sexual ramblings did I ever think _‘I’m going to make Derek Hale come all over himself while jacking his monster cock.’_ ”

Derek couldn’t stop the snort of laughter that hit him. He almost inhaled pillow case for fucks sake. 

“And it’s kind of like _literally_ a monster cock, right? Because I mean… you’re a werewolf. So werewolf cock. It’s like the Universal Movie Monsters do porn. Here’s the werewolf cock, here’s Dracula’s cock … I hope they wouldn’t do the Creature from the Black Lagoon, though. Because that would just be disgusting.”

Now he _really_ couldn’t stop the silent laughter that was making his shoulders shake under the teen’s hand. Because, seriously … his mate was just so ridiculously endearing. In the past he hadn’t really appreciated Stiles’ personal brand of quirky charm, but now he could admit admiring the younger man’s ability to restore levity to a situation. In his own way, of course. 

Derek turned his head in the pillow until he could see Stiles’ face. There was a little smirk of humor on the teen’s lips, even though his eyes were still unsure and questioning. The alpha rolled his eyes, then shifted to pull the younger man in close to him. When Stiles’ head landed on the pillow, Derek immediately burrowed his face into the crook of his mate’s neck. He took a deep breath against the warm skin before winding his arm tightly around the teen’s chest. There were several comfortable moments of silence, and Derek felt himself begin to drift into sleep. 

“I don’t know what I’m doing, you know.”

Derek opened his eyes slowly and leaned his head back far enough to gain a view of Stiles’ profile in the moonlit room. 

“I mean… I’ve always said that I _could_ be gay, and asked guys if they found me attractive and stuff, but I guess I never really thought about actually doing anything … _myself._ Then suddenly there I am pulling you through an orgasm, and I’m like … holy fuck that’s really _hot._ And you came. I made you come. Evidence of the fact right there in front of me. Then all I could think about was what you would taste like, and I did it without even realizing I was going to. You just- just stared at me and my brain was suddenly screaming ‘GAAAAAY!’ like a little cartoon seal and so I bolted. So I’m sorry. That I don’t know what I’m doing. That I don’t know what I want.”

The werewolf hummed gently under his breath, and then traced along his mate’s jaw line softly with the tip of his nose. Stiles shivered a little, beneath him, heartbeat picking up a few paces by the time Derek settled back down into the curve of his neck. 

“I don’t know what I’m doing _either_ , Stiles.”

They were the first words he’d uttered since waking from the nightmare and they seemed too loud in the hushed room. The younger man tried to shift around to meet the alpha’s eyes, but Derek held firm to his position and kept his face buried out of sight. 

“I’ve never been with a man, either, you know.”

Stiles scoffed quietly. 

“Yeah, okay … but you’ve still got a hell of a lot more experience than I do. It just makes me feel stupid … and really young.”

The alpha chuckled darkly. 

“You _are_ stupid and young.”

Stiles growled, but he sounded more like a puppy than anything else. 

“Hey! We can’t all be golden Adonis’ with women falling at our feet, okay?”

It was Derek’s turn to growl, and he punctuated it with a nip to the teen’s neck. 

“Don’t call me that. It’s ridiculous.”

They were quiet for a few minutes before Derek felt compelled to speak up again.

“I don’t have as much experience as you think I do, Stiles. I don’t like being close to people. Vulnerable.”

Stiles sniffed once and shifted his shoulders with obvious unease. 

“Because of Kate?”

Derek couldn’t help growling at the name. A deep rumble that made Stiles tense in his hold. 

“Yes. I was a dumb kid who thought he was in love and she murdered my family. Not the sort of past that makes you eager to jump into bed with someone.”

The body beneath him shifted until they were pressed closer together and Stiles wrapped both of his arms tightly around Derek’s back. The alpha only sighed when he realized he had effectively killed the conversation. He expected the teen to get up and leave him, but as time ticked by Stiles settled in to sleep and Derek couldn’t help but follow him down into slumber. 

~*~

The soft clearing of a throat roused him in the morning. He and Stiles were completely tangled up together in the bed, but the teen was still snoring softly above him. Derek lifted his head slowly off of the younger man’s chest to peek at the door of the bedroom. The Sheriff was standing there looking a little uncomfortable and apologetic. 

“Stiles needs to get up or he’s going to be late for school.”

Derek just nodded and watched the older man turn back into the hallway, purposefully leaving the door wide open. Gingerly he pushed himself into a seated position. Stiles snorted in his sleep and tried to roll into the warm space that the werewolf had vacated, but Derek grabbed his shoulder instead and gently shook it. 

“Stiles. Wake up.”

Those liquid amber eyes slowly made their appearance, and there was a building tension in Derek’s gut as his mate just stared at him for several moments. The teen’s lips languidly moved into a delicate smile that sent of shock of something fierce and powerful down the alpha’s spine. Eventually the younger man moved to copy Derek’s seated position on the bed, scooting close enough that their knees bumped together. Stiles licked his lips and Derek instinctually tracked the movement. 

“Can I … do something?”

Stiles’ voice was syrup-thick and sweet. Derek could only nod silently in response. He was rewarded with the deliberately casual lean forward of his mate’s body and a warm press of lips against his own. Neither of them moved to deepen the kiss. Neither of them really moved much at all. Derek had closed his eyes at the first touch, so he wasn’t sure if Stiles had done the same or was currently watching him. The pressure and warmth was light and perfect. 

When the lips against his moved away, Derek kept his eyes closed. He opened his mouth a bare fraction to pull in a deep calming breath and focused on the scent of his mate all around him. First kiss with another man. First kiss shared with his mate. He startled a little when soft fingertips were suddenly tracing over his lower lip, but didn’t open his eyes. The deft fingers traveled down to the dip in his chin and then slowly up his jaw line, catching in the stubble he hadn’t been bothered to shave away in days. 

Stiles made a soft hum of a sound, and then lips were meeting his again. This time a little off-center and down, catching the alpha’s lower lip between them. Derek couldn’t stop the tiny mewl that escaped him. In the quiet moment that surrounded them, the connection with his mate was the strongest it had ever been. Stiles’ hands were now holding the alpha’s face gently between them and he kept peppering quick kisses across Derek’s mouth. 

When Stiles finally pulled away, Derek allowed his body to flop back down into the mattress with a heavy sigh. The teen chuckled at him, but for once didn’t spoil the perfection of the moment by rambling. He just lifted himself silently from the bed and padded out of the room to get ready for school. Derek shifted around until he was properly cocooned back under the covers and swiped his tongue across his mouth to taste his mate. 

He drifted away to sleep again, only listening in his periphery to the sounds of the Stilinski men leaving for school and work. He napped away most of the day, truthfully, with a sort of absent awareness that his morning sickness seemed to have finally gone. For now, at least. Hopefully never to return. If he never had to see the close up view of a toilet again, it would be too soon. 

Around lunch time his stomach reminded him that he hadn’t eaten since early the previous evening, so he dragged himself from his comfortable bed and trudged downstairs to raid the fridge. It wasn’t until he was munching on some cold cuts and cheese that Derek realized he would kind of like to have sex with Stiles at some point in the not so distant future. He choked on the bit of ham he’d been chewing and had to spit the damn thing into the trash. 

_Because, holy shit… he wanted sex. He wanted sex … with Stiles. Stilinski. What the hell?_

He glanced around the house nervously for a couple seconds, as if someone might be there reading his thoughts, and then high-tailed upstairs to his room. After a half hour mental conversation in his head that pretty much boiled down to _‘Seriously, what the HELL, brain?’_ the alpha found himself tip-toeing across the hall into Stiles’ bedroom. Even though he knew no one was actually home. Because apparently the thought of gay sex made him a chickenshit. _Fucker._

Opening the window a crack so he could be absolutely _sure_ he wouldn’t miss the sound of one of the Stilinski’s arriving home, Derek quickly booted up the teen’s laptop … and then stared at the Google home page for about five minutes. Eventually he manned the fuck up and typed the words ‘gay sex’ into the search bar. Unsurprisingly, it popped up before he’d even finished, indicating that it had been previously searched. There is no stopping a teenage libido, after all. 

Once the results loaded, and he scanned over all the porn links, there was a high-lighted site that was colored as recently viewed. _How to have gay sex._ Not the most original of titles, but he supposed it got the point across. 

“Why the hell not?”

He gritted his teeth and clicked the link. 

Okay. Okay this wasn’t so bad. No diagrams or images or pictures of giant dicks so far. He skimmed the whole article. Read about safety and prepping. Topping or bottoming. Frottage and intercrural and rimming. _(How about HELL no.)_ Dangers and precautions and emotional connections. Clicked a couple links for more information, but _HOLY SHIT THERE ARE THE DIAGRAMS_ … and quickly clicked the back button. Glancing at the clock, he shut down the browser and opened up a game of minesweeper. _Because that shit is addicting._

An hour later, when he could hear Stiles’ death-trap of a jeep rounding the corner of the street, he was just mindlessly clicking away at the little boxes and waiting for the bombs to explode. And he was thinking. Musing, rather. About his singular experience with anal sex that had brought him to this whole situation in the first place. All he remembered was pain and shame. Hatred for his uncle and utter disbelief that this could be happening to him. But, obviously it couldn’t all be about pain, could it? Otherwise why would gay men even bother? 

Not to mention that he’d been stabbed, shot, electrocuted, beaten and run over enough in the last couple years … a little (literal) pain in the ass would probably be a cake walk. If prepped and lubed properly of course. _Hmmmm…_

Stiles’ thundering footsteps came to a screeching halt right inside the door to the bedroom. Derek clicked another little gray box and watched a bomb go off. When he hit the happy face to reset, Stiles suddenly snorted.

“Dude, nineteen ninety-eight called… they want their game back.”

The alpha rolled his eyes, but continued to play.

“How was school?”

The teen choked a little on air before plopping down heavily on the corner of his bed. 

“It was … fine? Are we doing this now? Are we being domestic? Because I’m not really sure I’m fully prepared for that.”

Derek chuckled just a bit before closing out Minesweeper and rising to his feet. He moved to stand before the teen, shrugging his shoulders as he arrived. 

“I wasn’t aware that playing a game on your computer and asking you about your day was being domestic. If it bothers you too much, I can always just tell you about the porn sites I was browsing earlier.”

With that, the alpha threw a smirk at the teen and walked out of the room and across the hall. Trailing behind him was the sputtering shocked coughs that had all but exploded from his mate. 

“Y-You can’t just say stuff like that and walk away!!!”

The werewolf was grinning when he launched himself onto his bed and curled up for a nap. He wasn’t surprised when another body tucked up right behind him seconds later. Stiles formed himself to Derek’s back like an extra layer of clothing. He cautiously wrapped an arm around the alpha’s middle, only relaxing when Derek gave a rumble of approval. Derek couldn’t ever remember being spooned in his life, but he found that he didn’t actually mind it much. He drifted off with warm puffs of breath tickling the back of his neck. 

When he woke a couple hours later, Stiles was still tucked up close behind him. 

A couple weeks passed in mostly a blur, until suddenly school was out, Stiles was a senior, and home with Derek most of the day. The Thursday pack meetings had started up fairly uneventfully, even though Derek hadn’t brought himself to venture downstairs for any of them yet. He was also officially in his second trimester. The morning sickness was gone and he didn’t feel the need to sleep for twenty hours out of the day, but now everything just … hurt. 

His back was the worst. There hadn’t been many opportunities in his life as a quickly healing werewolf to experience an aching pain that just _wouldn’t go away._ So this was something completely new. And annoying as shit. 

He rolled slowly from his side to sprawl on his back. Tonight they were scheduled to go see Deaton for the first ultrasound. He honestly wasn’t looking forward to leaving the house. Hadn’t left it once in all the time he had been here. His pre-pregnancy wolf would have been chomping at the bits and tearing at the walls with a crippling case of cabin fever. His pregnant wolf, however, was quite happy to lounge around all day and do nothing. He felt safe and secure in the house. 

Not to mention, with Deaton’s previous warning about the risks, Derek wasn’t taking a single fucking chance with the pup’s life. He was already far too attached to her. _(Ultrasounds be damned. He knew the pup in his belly was a girl.)_

“Oh, hey! You’re awake!”

Derek observed silently as Stiles drifted into the room and settled on the bed. The shift in their connection to something more had gone pretty smoothly after that one hiccup _(handjob)_ in the road. Both of them had gotten comfortable with physical affection toward the other, although it hadn’t really progressed further than kissing and some aggressive spooning. Derek often found himself the little spoon… and somehow that didn’t bother him in the slightest. 

Stiles leaned forward to peck the werewolf gently on the lips. 

“How are you feeling? Back still bothering you?”

Derek shrugged before rolling his body into a full head to toe stretch. Followed closely with a jaw cracking yawn. The look in Stiles’ eyes when he met them again was down-right affectionate and the alpha could feel a small blush fighting to emerge. He wasn’t used to having another person look at him as if he was something special. Something to be adored. Not since his parents had been alive. 

A funny little flutter shifted inside his belly and Derek blinked. Slowly he tilted his head and tugged up the hem of his tank to eye the soft swell of his abdomen. It was obviously noticeable now, although Deaton didn’t think he would ever reach the full rounded belly of a female. His body and muscles just didn’t work that way. The odd flutter happened again and he bit his lower lip. 

“Derek?”

He glanced quickly over to Stiles before plopping his head back on the pillow. 

“I think she’s moving around. There’s this weird … feeling.”

His mate grinned before gently placing a hand on the little mound. The teen leaned close enough so that his lips tickled at the skin of Derek’s stomach when he spoke. 

“Hey, baby girl. And, by the way, I’m only being gender specific because your big bad momma is one hundred percent sure that’s what you are … but I’ll love you either way. Even if you come out with giant judgmental eyebrows and glare at me threateningly. Because, apparently I’m into that sort of thing.”

Derek snorted and the teen moved back to smile at him. 

“We need to get ready to go to Deaton’s. And … uh… everyone kind of wants to go.”

The alpha arched an eyebrow at his mate. 

“Everyone, _who?_ ”

Stiles cackled once and shrugged his shoulders. 

“ _Everyone,_ everyone. Dad even got off of work early.”

The werewolf groaned and brought his hands up to rub at his tired eyes. This was going to be a nightmare. Stiles laughed before carefully tugging the hem of Derek’s shirt back down and standing beside the bed. 

“Don’t be like that, momma. They’re just excited. Your beta’s haven’t even seen you in ages. The girls already have swatches and paint chips for you to approve. And I actually saw my dad eyeing a onesie the other day that said something about _Grandpa’s Little Precious_ or some shit like that. There may have actually been tears involved. Just saying.”

Derek growled low as he pulled himself into a seated position on the bed. 

“Stop calling me momma.”

It took a little effort to get himself on his feet. His back twinged in pain and he immediately wanted to drop back down into a fetal position on the soft mattress. Stiles place a warm arm around his middle and slowly began to guide him to the bathroom. 

“Aww… but I love calling you momma. It makes me feel like a dirty, sexist husband from the fifties. Next I plan on buying you a frilly apron and when I come home from a hard day at the office, I demand you be waiting with dinner in nothing but the apron and your pearls. Gotta make a husband feel special, you know.”

Derek whacked him upside the head with as much strength as he could muster, but the teen just giggled through the abuse. Stiles left him to his shower, which the alpha had turned up a hot as he could get it and let the water pound at his back. Once he was clean and feeling a little more, heh, _human_ he cut off the water and stepped out into the steamy bathroom. Stiles had obviously snuck back in to retrieve his dirty clothes and leave behind some boxers, a soft pair of gray cotton shorts and a clean white tank.

Toweling himself off quickly, he slipped the clothes on and made his way downstairs to the kitchen. He didn’t bother with product on his hair any more. What the hell was the point of that? It fell in soft layers across his forehead and made Stiles giggle every time he re-emerged from the shower. 

The Sheriff was seated at the kitchen counter when Derek walked into the room. The older man smiled warmly at him before hopping off his stool and retrieving a small bottle of milk from the fridge. Derek had been craving a lot of it lately, even though he couldn’t stand the taste of it _before_ , and the Stilinski’s had stocked up. John tossed him the bottle and Derek smiled at him gratefully. In the ten seconds it took him to chug the whole thing down, Stiles had bustled into the room, mumbling to himself and tapping at his phone. 

“Okay. Deaton’s almost ready for us, and apparently the whole pack has already arrived. He’s threatening to put wolfsbane in the coffee filter. I‘m taking that as a polite suggestion that we put a move on it.”

Derek and John snorted simultaneously, prompting Stiles to finally look up and glance between them. The teen’s gaze settled on Derek, small grin parting his lips when he took in the flat, freshly washed hair. 

“You good to go? Do you need shoes?”

The werewolf rolled his eyes as he stood to toss the milk bottle in the recycling bin. 

“I don’t have any shoes that would go with shorts. I’ll go barefoot.”

Stiles arched an eyebrow at him. 

“I’ve got some flip flops if you wa-”

Derek growled. 

“I am NOT wearing flip flops. I’ll go barefoot.”

The teen’s hands flew up in acquiescence. 

“No need to get all _‘grr argh’_ , momma. Far be it for me to demoralize the grand alpha by forcing him to protect his precious feet with some flippy floppies. Now if you‘re done being pregnant diva for the moment… may we go?”

Taking a very necessary moment to snarl and bare his teeth at his mate, Derek stomped out the door towards the jeep. He pointedly ignored the father and son cackling behind him. He hopped into the back and sprawled across the seat instead of sitting up properly. He didn’t feel like having the seatbelt cutting across his middle. One of Stiles’ hoodies was dangling across the headrest, so he snatched it and balled it up to use as a makeshift pillow. Rumbling happily as he got comfortable, he ignored the amused expression the Sheriff gave him as he slipped into the passenger seat. Stiles just snickered and started the car. 

Once they were moving, Derek let the motion of the jeep drop him off in a slight doze. He only perked up as they neared the clinic and he could feel his pack waiting anxiously for them to arrive. Stiles pulled around back and the rolling bay door practically flew open. The Sheriff must have made some sort of abortive motion upon exiting the vehicle, because when Derek finally sat up in the back seat… there was no one to be seen. 

He hopped out of the jeep and sighed. John had already ventured inside, but Stiles was waiting for him with an eager grin on his face. The teen touched the alpha’s cheek lightly before running his fingers through Derek’s still damp hair once. 

“Jesus, look at you. The girls’ ovaries may actually burst, just be prepared.”

Derek cocked an eyebrow in confusion before he shuffled past him and into the back of the clinic. He walked around Deaton and the Sheriff talking in the hallway before pushing open the door for the main exam room. He didn’t even get the chance to register where all of his pack was placed in the room before there was feminine high pitched squealing. Erica practically bounded up to him. 

“Oh my god, you look fucking adorable! I can’t even!”

Flashing his eyes and giving his most vicious growl, Derek was surprised when his beta only cowed back for a second. She immediately scooted closer again when he stopped. Isaac was right on her heels this time, appearing way too eager for a simple visit to the vet’s office. They were both giving him giant, guilty doe eyes, so he sighed and opened up his arms toward them. Both beta’s immediately launched themselves at their alpha, tucking under his arms and snuggling into his chest. There was a click of a camera phone. Derek growled and the guilty party laughed softly. 

When Isaac and Erica finally detached from him, he stepped forward to clap a hand on Boyd’s shoulder and squeeze. The younger werewolf smiled warmly at him and nodded his head. Behind him, Jackson was lounging against the wall as if he didn’t give a damn about being present, but his eyes were wide and intent, betraying his emotions. 

Lydia and Allison were actually _cooing_ at him from the corner. (Scott appeared a bit lost beside his girlfriend.)

Stiles sauntered up to Derek just as Deaton and the Sheriff were moving into the exam room with them. His mate smiled softly and nudged at Derek’s shoulder with his chin. The alpha rumbled pleasantly before butting his head against his mate’s in affection. 

There was more cooing. And another camera click. _Fuckers._

“Well, now that we’re all here… Mr. Hale, I’m going to need you on the exam table, please.”

Derek nodded at the vet and stepped away from Stiles toward the large metal table. While he jumped up and tried to settle as comfortably as possible, Deaton pulled a monitor and some equipment up beside him. Stiles had come to stand at the head of the table, and the rest of the pack gathered round. Even Jackson. 

“This shouldn’t take too long at all. We just want to get a little look and make sure the baby is developing okay.”

The alpha nodded and observed as the older man fiddled with the wand of the device. Figuring what was coming next, he reached down to pull his tank up over the bump of his belly and expose it for everyone to see. There were a couple soft gasps and another squeal. _(Erica.)_ His instinct was warring with him a little, for laying the pup open before everyone, but he managed to quell his urges by reminding himself that he was the alpha and this was his pack. They wouldn’t hurt the pup. 

“Alright. Here we go.”

Deaton flipped a couple switched on the machine, slathered Derek’s belly up with something disgusting and cold, then pressed the wand firmly against his skin. Almost instantly a steady thumping heartbeat filled the room, and the pack all shifted in excitement. Derek concentrated on the monitor as grainy images finally began to show on the screen. They were a little odd, and hard to interpret at first, but eventually a small, baby-shaped blob appeared. Stiles sucked in a quick breath through his teeth. 

“Wow. There she is!”

Derek could feel his mate grinning down at him, but he couldn’t drag his gaze away from the tiny pup on the screen. She was moving around a little, but not much. The bond between them was strong and aware. Almost as if she understood that she was currently surrounded by her whole pack. Deaton moved the wand and the image shifted. 

“I’m not getting too clear an image, but I don’t see anything that would indicate a boy.”

Stiles laughed above Derek. 

“Yeah. _Someone_ is adamant that it’s a girl.”

Deaton hummed absently. 

“I wouldn’t be surprised. Werewolf mothers are often far more connected to their unborn pups than humans are.”

Derek finally broke his gaze away from the screen to smugly smile up at his mate. Stiles merely rolled his eyes in response. 

“You wouldn’t look so gloat-y if you realized that the Doc just called you a _mother_.”

The Sheriff snickered from somewhere near Derek’s feet. That particular argument apparently never grew old with the elder Stilinski. He would crack up _every… damn… time._ Derek sighed and closed his eyes to listen to the echo of his daughter’s heartbeat. 

_Daughter. Shit._ That was the first time he’d actually even _thought_ that word. He wondered what his mother would think. His Father. Laura. His cousins and his aunts and every other member of his family that had been burned alive in the fire. Peter’s face flashed across his memory. Peter’s voice puffing humid, fetid air against the back of his neck. Peter’s hands clawing down his sides and holding him still. Peter’s daughter inside of him. 

_Peter’s daughter._

He was off the table and banging out the back door before he could even fully register the need to get away. There was a frantic flurry of motion and sound left in his wake, but he just couldn’t stop. Ignored the screams of his name. Ignored the thundering foot beats of his beta’s chasing him. Ignored the startled and desperate attempts of connection through the bond of his mate. He ignored everything but the pounding of the ground beneath his bare feet until the Stilinski house appeared around the corner. 

With no care of neighbors or pedestrians, he hopped over the back fence and vaulted up to the open window of his room. Then it was a mad dash to the bathroom. He slammed and locked the door behind himself before curling into an admittedly pitiful ball in the empty bathtub. His heart felt like it was going to pound right out of his chest, and he was winded by the run. _Too out of shape. Too lazy. Too useless._

A desperate keening echoed off the tiled walls while he raged internally at himself. 

If he survived the pregnancy, _how the hell_ was he supposed to raise a daughter? The control of his pack was tenuous at best. He’d never been properly prepared to become an alpha. Could never live up to his mother’s legacy, or Laura’s potential. They both had compassion and patience enough to rival their strength. His mother had led with a grace and authority that commanded the respect of every pack in California. He hadn’t even been able to keep himself from being sexually assaulted by his own, psychotic uncle. 

He could hear his own whines bouncing back at him from the walls of the small bathroom. Beyond that, outside, Erica and Boyd were pacing the backyard sensing his distress. Isaac was just inside the window of his bedroom, too cautious to venture any further, but too worried to wait outside. His soft whines were echoing Derek’s own. The squealing of several sets of tires brought all the werewolves attention to the front of the house. Derek could hear Scott pacing in the front yard as three vehicles pulled up and the rest of the pack jumped out. 

_“Scott! Where is he?”_

Stiles’ voice created a small measure of calm within the alpha’s mind. 

_“He jumped into the back window. I think he’s locked himself up in the bathroom upstairs. He’s … he’s really distressed. What the hell happened?”_

There was a shift of fabric as Stiles moved closer to the front door. 

_“I have no idea. He’s blocking me out. I’m not getting anything.”_

_“Blocking you out? What the hell are you talking about?”_

Stiles’ steps faltered as he reached the door and moved to unlock it. Derek could hear the nervous stutter of his mate’s heartbeat. Feel the frantic pushing at the connection between them. 

_“We’re mates, Scott. We’ve bonded. I can sense him and he can sense me… but right now, he’s shutting me out. But he knows we’re all here. He doesn’t feel threatened. He’s not scared.”_

Derek whined low and pained. Again, Isaac echoed the noise from the room next door. 

Stiles thundered up the stairs until he was standing just beyond the door to the bathroom. Derek could hear the teen place his hands gently on the wood and rest his forehead between them. 

“Derek? Please open the door.”

The werewolf growled and turned over in the tub until his back was to his mate’s voice. 

“Come on, momma. Please open the door.”

He jammed his face against the hard, unforgiving porcelain and attempted to calm himself. 

“Oh, God. You’re not even reacting to that. Please. You’re scaring the shit out of me right now.”

The alpha poked at the connection with his mate to discover the truth of Stiles’ words. The teen was honestly terrified and worried … about _him._ Derek closed his eyes against the bright white of the tiled wall and sent an apology through the link, but he didn’t get up to open the door. 

“Dammit, Derek. Scott! Come break the door for me.”

Scott sprinted up the stairs. 

“Are you sure?”

Stiles sighed. 

“Yeah. Then please gather the wolves and get them out of hearing distance. Humans are okay to stay downstairs.”

The beta outside grasped the handle tight, but didn’t open the door. 

“Stiles. I … I might know one reason Derek’s freaking out. Deaton told me something. About the pregnancy.”

Derek roared a warning to his beta, but apparently Scott was in the mood to ignore him today. 

“He has a right to know, Derek! And if you won’t tell him… I will.”

With those words the younger werewolf popped open the door as if was nothing more substantial than paper. Splinters of wood from the busted frame made small patters against the floor. Scott turned and began to retreat to the downstairs. 

“I’ll take the others. Make him tell you, Stiles. It’s important.”

Snarling his discontent, Derek listened as his mate jammed the broken door shut behind himself before settling on the edge of the tub. He made no move to touch the alpha yet, for which Derek was grateful. 

“Talk to me.”

Derek hunched his shoulders up to his ears, ducking his head away from his mate’s gaze. He didn’t respond and he didn’t turned around.

“Fuck. Derek… look… I don’t understand. Things were fine. Right? I mean, you were fine one second and then the next you were gone. I know something’s banging around in that wolfie brain of yours. Please… just tell me.”

The teen shifted to kneel beside the tub and a cautious hand was gently placed on the curve of the alpha’s shoulder. A breath got caught in the back of his throat which resulted in a muted little hiccup of a noise. Derek finally turned around slowly to face his mate. The younger man’s hand skirted across his skin to end up pressed against Derek’s heart once he was resting against the curve of the tub. Stiles looked absolutely wrecked, and the werewolf could only imagine that he resembled much the same. His mate gave him a half-hearted grin. 

“There’s that pretty face.”

Derek snorted and rolled his eyes. The resulting smile on the teen’s face was small and precious. 

“Please talk to me. You scared me.”

The alpha allowed his eyes to slide closed and he took a deep breath. 

“Peter’s daughter. She’s _Peter’s daughter._ ”

That lovely, warm hand traced up Derek’s neck to carefully cradle his cheek. 

“She’s your daughter, Derek. _Yours._ And I really want her to be mine, too.”

Derek nodded and pushed against the palm cupping his face. He took in a deep inhale of his mate’s scent. 

“I don’t … this is too much. I’m not sure I can do this.”

Stiles’ fingers shifted to scratch lightly through the alpha’s days old stubble.

“You’re doing just fine. You’re the alpha. You got this.”

A bubble of laughter broke free from the werewolf. It was decidedly lacking in humor. 

“I’m a _shit_ alpha. I’m going to be a _shit_ father. I was a _shit_ brother and a _shit_ son. _Obviously_ I was a _shit_ nephew if my uncle could-”

“Hey! That’s enough of that!”

Derek was startled enough by the sudden outburst, that his eyes had flown open to meet the warm honey gaze of his mate’s. 

“You do realize that’s the hormones talking, don’t you? It was a big day, and you were out of the den… you’re just feeling a bit … emotional. That doesn’t mean anythi-”

“I got my entire family killed, Stiles. They’re all dead because of me. Laura’s dead because I didn’t come with her. Peter’s dead by my own hands. Twice. Fuck. FUCK! How am I supposed to raise a pup? Huh? When I’m a fucking monster that drags death around with him everywhere he goes? She deserves something better. She deserves so much more than _me._ ”

A breath hitched in Stiles’ throat. 

“Derek-”

“Maybe it’ll be better for everyone if the pregnancy _does_ end up killing me.”

Dead silence filled the room. Derek risked a glance at the teen, who had frozen in shock, and fuck if his mate didn’t look suddenly terrified. After a moment of utter stillness, Stiles’ gaze hardened and his features shifted to anger.

“What the fuck did you just say?”

Derek shrugged an indifferent shoulder and looked away towards the backsplash of the sink. 

“That’s what Scott wanted me to tell you. Deaton found out that no carrier has ever survived one of these pregnancies. The pup always does, but the … _mother_ … doesn’t.”

Stiles collapsed backwards, ass hitting the floor hard, his hand ripped away from Derek’s face by the motion. 

“And … and you didn’t think that was something you should _tell me!?_ ”

The alpha shrugged again and dropped his gaze to his own hands. A wave of intense rage slammed into him through the bond as Stiles jumped to his feet. 

“Fuck you, Derek! Seriously, just … _fuck you!_ ”

The teen moved toward the door as if he was going to storm out of the room, and Derek sank further down into the tub, crossing his arms tightly over his chest. Stiles whipped around at the last moment and growled as deeply as his human vocal chords would let him. 

“What the hell was the point of all this then, Derek? Huh? Why ask me to be your mate in order to save your life if you’re just going to throw it all away because of one bad day? Huh? Goddammit! There are going to be _bad days!_ There are going to be hundreds of _monumentally shitty_ fucking days, Derek! But every damn one of them is a gift that you should be fucking grateful for! And you _know_ this. I know you do. Because I know that you understand that life is fucking _precious_ , and it’s always gone way too soon. 

Kate-batshit-crazy-Argent killed your family, Derek. You didn’t start that fire. She did. You didn’t kill Laura. Peter did. You did kill Peter… but that was a fucking _mercy_ killing, because the dude was gone. He was absolutely gone. And I don’t believe for one _second_ that your family would blame you for any of that. Because they raised you. And they loved you. And I may have never had the chance to meet them, but I bet they would want you to be happy, and to live a long fulfilling life. With your daughter. So you’re just going to fucking wolf-man up and beat the odds. Okay? Because you’re the alpha, and you’re Derek-fucking- _Hale_ and there’s no way some little mystical moon-magic man-pregnancy is going to take you out. Right?”

Stiles was red-faced and panting by the time he was done, but he was also kneeling back over the tub and only inches from Derek’s face. The werewolf was just staring into those wide, expressive eyes and feeling a little floored by all the words that had just spewed forth from his mate. Finally, Derek cleared his throat and croaked out a thick voice. 

“And you? Right?”

The teen blinked and tilted his head to the side in a questioning gesture. Derek licked his dry lips and cleared his throat again. 

“Live a long and fulfilling life with my daughter … and _you._ Right?”

Stiles stared at him for a couple seconds before a bright, electric grin almost exploded onto his face. 

“Damn right _‘and me’_ , you angsty bastard.”

A slightly watery laugh broke free from the alpha, unbidden, and he leaned forward to rest his head against the cool rim of the tub. Stiles’ fingers instantly found their way into his hair, running through the strands and scratching along his scalp in a soothing movement. He lowered his voice into a calming whisper. 

“You have to believe, remember? You have to believe everything will be okay, and it will. Have any of the other carriers ever been werewolves?”

Derek shook his head slightly against the porcelain. 

“There. See? Those poor bastards never had a chance, but there’s no way this is going to off you. Big bad alpha, right? This’ll be a cake walk.”

Snorting again, Derek raised his head so he could look into his mate’s eyes. They were wide and warm, and completely determined that everything would be alright. He finally released the block from the bond and a barrage of affection rushed between them. His gaze shifted to the younger man’s lips for a brief second before he surged forward and caught them with his own. 

Stiles hummed in little in surprise, before wrapping his arms around Derek’s neck and clinging tight. The alpha whined small and soft before he opened his mouth against his mate’s and the teen’s tongue plunged right in. In all these weeks, this was the first time they had done this. All the kisses previous had been closed mouthed and gentle. Two men slowly getting used to the idea of kissing each other. _(And for Derek, at least, the idea of kissing another male in general.)_

Stiles’ tongue was in constant motion, which wasn’t surprising given the human it was attached to. It laved across his own, swept through his mouth as if trying to map out every inch, and kept fucking into him in a slippery, wet imitation of what Derek was kind of hoping would one day happen much lower. Whatever Stiles lacked with experience, he made up for with enthusiasm and gusto. Derek fucking _mewled_ when the teen wound his fingers into the werewolf’s hair and yanked to twist his head into a better position. 

There was a sudden _‘thunk’_ and Stiles broke away with a muffled curse. Derek was panting lightly, a little stunned, as he watched the teen rub at his own knee. 

“Fucking tub. That’s gonna leave a mark.”

When Stiles turned back to Derek, his eyes flew wide. The alpha couldn’t even imagine what he must look like. He could feel the flush on his face, knew his lips were red and swollen, and his hair was likely a complete mess. Stiles swallowed so harshly his throat clicked. 

“Oh my god. Look at you. Fuck.”

Derek nodded and wanted to say _‘Yes, please, that last part. Let’s do that.’_ But all that came out was another whine. Stiles laughed, but it sounded strained, and slowly stood on two wobbly legs. He reached his arms down to clasp carefully onto Derek’s elbows. 

“Come on, momma. Outta the tub.”

That was enough to snap the alpha out of his hazy stupor. He growled, but allowed himself to be pulled to his feet. Stiles grinned. 

“See, now I feel better. You growled at me.”

Derek rolled his eyes and rumbled out another displeased growl, but his mate just ignored him and scooted him towards the broken door. There was absolutely no one to be seen or heard in the house as they walked across the hall into Stiles’ bedroom. He forced Derek to settle into the bed before pulling the covers almost up to his chin. 

“I’m going to go calm down the pack. Try and get some rest, okay? I’ll bring you up some water in a little bit.”

The teen shifted to move away, but Derek snatched up his wrist before he got too far. Stiles glanced down at him with a questioning look, but the alpha could only furrow his eyebrows. He wasn’t sure how to ask for what he wanted. Suddenly his mate smiled and leaned down to kiss him gently on the lips. Derek sighed and released the captured wrist. The teen shook his head at him while he turned to exit the room.

“You’re so ridiculous.”

Derek growled at him, but happily snuggled deep into the covers while he did so. 

~*~

He must have drifted off for a few moments, but unfamiliar steps coming up the stairs shocked him awake. A deep inhale brought the scent of Lydia and nerves, so he moved to sit up against the headboard. She knocked politely on the open door before quietly moving into the dark room. He allowed his eyes to glow their strongest, casting a soft red light over his features. Lydia let out the breath she’d been holding. 

“I asked Stiles if I could speak to you alone before he brought the wolves back. I hope you don’t mind.”

Derek shook his head. He’d known this conversation would come up eventually. No use trying to hide from it any longer. He motioned with his hand towards the bed, and she primly sat on the edge, but refused to meet his eyes. 

“I’m so sorry.”

The alpha blinked in surprise, fully intending to ask her what for…but she continued almost immediately. 

“I knew he was going to do something bad. I just _knew_ it. But I couldn’t fight the control he had over me, and by the time he let me go I was so scared. And I just sat there and watched while he … while he … I’m _so sorry._ ”

The alpha swallowed, his throat suddenly dry and pained. There were tracks of tears rolling down the redhead’s pale cheeks, and he just couldn’t be angry with her. He couldn’t. 

“It’s not your fault, Lydia.”

“It is! I-”

“It’s not. He used you and he used me. We are both the victims here.”

She shook her head violently, but didn’t speak. 

“You stopped him. In the end. You helped me stop him. I couldn’t have done it without you.”

Lydia laughed, cruel and low. 

“But not before it was too late. I didn’t stop him in time to keep him from…”

She waved a delicate hand in the vicinity of his swollen belly. 

“… and now you’re going to have a constant reminder of what he did. Of what _I_ did.”

Derek shook his head and lunged forward to grasp her wrist. He pulled carefully, mindful of his strength, until he could press the palm of her hand on the baby bump. She stared at him with wide, terrified eyes. 

“No, Lydia. I’m not going to think of her like that. Not any more. It wouldn’t be fair to her to judge her for her … sperm donor. _Stiles_ is going to be her father. She is going to be _his_ daughter.”

The younger woman’s gaze finally drifted down to her hand and the swell it was cupping. The tension slowly bled out of her shoulders and she nodded. With his other hand, Derek softly pulled her closer to him until he could place a light kiss against the crown of her head. She hiccupped a soft, little sob. 

“Thank you for stopping him. Thank you for being there for me. Now you can be there for her, too.”

Lydia pulled back and eyed him speculatively as she gracefully wiped the tears from her face. 

“Are you giving me free reign to spoil?”

Derek smirked and nodded. 

“Within reason.”

An evil glint and a manic grin suddenly burst forth on the redhead’s features. The alpha almost wanted to recoil and take back the hell he most likely just released unto himself. His poor daughter. 

“Any colors that you absolutely despise?”

Derek snorted. 

“Pink. No pink.”

Lydia pursed her lips in thought. 

“What about mauve? Sea-foam green?”

He shrugged. 

“That’s fine.”

“How do you feel about check pattern?”

He blinked.

“It’s … never done anything to personally offend me?”

A predatory gleam was lighting her eyes aflame. 

“Any names in mind, yet?”

Now Derek broke her gaze. Because he knew what he wanted to do with that situation.

“Lauryl.”

Her gaze softened. 

“That’s so pretty. Laura, right? And?”

He nodded. 

“And Cheryl. It was Stiles’ mom’s name.”

She sucked in a breath, and when he turned to look at her again there were new tears brimming at the surface of her eyes. 

“Oh. That’s. That’s beautiful.”

He shrugged and turned toward the window as he heard to pack slowly approaching. 

“Does Stiles know yet?”

Derek shook his head. Once they were within distance and could sense his calm, the wolves picked up the pace and bolted toward the house. 

“I don’t suppose you’ll tell him in front of the pack, would you? He’s going to weep like a baby and I’d kind of like to be there for that.”

The alpha smirked as he turned to face her again, but he shook his head in the negative. He wouldn’t do that to Stiles… or to John. He wanted to tell them privately, make sure they were okay with his choice. Give them the chance to work through their feelings on the idea. 

“Damn. Figured you’d say that.”

Once the pack had reunited and Derek had calmed his betas down by participating in a snuggle pile of epic proportions… he felt a little silly about his outburst. Stiles had said it was just his hormones being a bit off kilter and he really hoped that was the case. Because there was something he really, really wanted to do tonight. 

The pack had returned to their homes around midnight, and the Sheriff had been called into the office for a few hours. Derek had excused himself to head upstairs for another shower. He was feeling sweated and filthy after his unplanned sprint across the town, so he was pretty sure there was nothing to be suspicious of. Once he was under the heat of the water and thoroughly clean, he eyed the shower gel with consideration. He’d been half hard for the duration of washing, just thinking about what he wanted to try. 

Licking his lips with a small bout of nerves, he finally reached for the gel and poured a fairly large amount in his palm. _Fuck. Okay. He could totally do this. Experimentation was the key to unlocking your sexual preferences, right?_ Coating his fingers liberally with the gel, he reached behind himself and rubbed them across his asshole. A small tickle of pleasure shot up his spine. He bit his lip in concentration as he pushed the tip of his index finger at the ring of muscle. 

It slipped inside a lot easier than he thought it would and he released his lip with a small gasp. So far so good. There wasn’t any pain yet. Just a really strange pressure and a little bit of burn. Nothing he couldn’t handle. Nothing like what Peter had done. Pushing the digit in further, he wiggled it back and forth feeling the relative smoothness of his inner walls. The back of his finger brushed over what must have been his prostate, because a small jolt of electric pleasure made him spasm and tilt forward towards the tiled wall of the shower. _Well, that was definitely a PRO on the gay sex column._

He tried to shift his finger to hit the gland more precisely, but the digit was facing the wrong way and the angle was just bad. Glancing down at the tub, Derek took a second to ponder if he was actually about to spread-eagle in the Stilinski’s bathtub and finger fuck himself, before he was moving to do it. He toed at the stopper to close it so the bath would fill and flicked down the shower pull so that hot water was pouring out of the main faucet. 

The alpha sat down in the rapidly filling tub and settled back against the porcelain. While he waited for the bath to fill, he tugged on his cock a few times to keep it interested in the proceedings. Finally the water reached his chest and he used his feet to turn off the knobs. The instant quiet of the room suddenly made him feel even more nervous about what he was going to do. With a deep, calming breath he shifted one leg up to press his foot against the wall of the shower. For a second he couldn’t figure out what to do with his other leg, until he just threw it over the rim of the tub, free of the water but hidden by the shower curtain. 

He took another deep breath. Coated his fingers again with the gel still slicking his palm. Then reached down into the water and pushed the first digit right back in. The slide was much easier and the angle was _holy shit so much fucking better._ Tilting his hips up and pushing his finger down, the soft pad of his fingertip brushed right across his prostate and he gasped. _So, so much better._

Working the finger in and out of his body had his neck arching back against the tub and his toes curling unconsciously. _If one finger was good. Might as well try two, right?_ Pushing in the second brought more of the burn, but the increase in pressure was … nice. He felt more stretched, more full. He keened softly as he increased the speed of the penetrating push and pull. 

There was a polite tap on the bond just as Stiles rapped his knuckles on the still broken door to the bathroom. 

Derek froze. Fingers pushed up inside him to the knuckle. 

The broken door shifted open just enough for the teen to apparently poke his head in. 

“Oh! You’re taking a bath instead? I was wondering what had gotten you all sunshine and rainbows suddenly.”

At the sound of his mate’s voice, Derek’s cock managed to go even harder and his balls tucked up tight. He sent a prayer of thanks to every fucking deity he could think of that he’d remembered to close the shower curtains. And that the Stilinski’s hadn’t purchased any of those see-through vinyl pieces of shit. 

“Bet that feels really good, huh?”

Derek nearly fucking choked on his own tongue. 

“Hot bath will probably work a miracle on your back.”

No matter the sort of affection the alpha held for the teen… he just really wanted Stiles to leave the fucking room. _Like, five minutes ago._

“Derek? You okay?”

 _Oh God. This was punishment for something, wasn’t it? He mugged a bus of nuns or something in a past life, hadn’t he?_ He shifted in the tub, which was a mistake because that caused his fingers to press right up against his sweet spot _hard_ and fireworks burst across his eyes for a second. His voice came out warbled and totally unconvincing. 

“I’m fine.”

Stiles was quiet for several seconds and Derek just couldn’t keep still for any longer. He wiggled his fingers teasingly before pulling them out and pushing them back in roughly. The werewolf bit straight into his lip until he tasted blood to keep himself silent. 

“Oooookay. Well… try and relax. I’ll come check on you in a bit.”

 _Oh fuck. Oh fuck. Oh fuckfuckfuck._ He was pistoning his fingers now, faster and faster, only just managing to keep his arm under water to deter sloshing sounds. His cock was going to blow any second, and Stiles still hadn’t _left the fucking room._

“Mmhmm.”

It was the only response the alpha could manage, and it sounded strained even to his own ears, but he was fucking himself hard with his fingers now and he just … needed… to… come. Finally the teen shifted back out of the room and pulled the broken door shut behind him. Derek listened, panting harsh breaths into the water he had somehow slid deeper into, as his mate jogged down the steps and into the kitchen. He gripped his cock and only managed to strip himself twice before he was _gone gone GONE._

His spine bowed forward with his orgasm until he was almost folded in half, eyes squeezed closed as little spots of light danced in the darkness. He spent himself in the warm water. Could feel the walls of his channel clenching at his fingers until he was done. With a soft sigh he relaxed back against the tub and carefully pulled his fingers from his body. His hole felt open. Hollow. Bereft. But strangely good. 

If that was only two fingers, he wondered what a dick would feel like. The wider stretch. The deeper penetration. The alpha shuddered in anticipation. He was pretty sure it was safe to assume that he was totally in favor of future anal sex with his mate. 

Yup. 

~*~

When he finally crawled into bed in the early hours of the morning, he couldn’t fall asleep. The post orgasmic bliss had faded off and now he was left feeling a little embarrassed and a lot curious. What Peter had done had felt intrusive and painful and _vile._ What Derek had done to himself felt … raw, and open and on the edge of something that might be really amazing. 

He tried to catalogue the differences of the two acts in his brain, but he was stumbling through it. Realistically, he understood that what had been forced upon him should probably result in him screaming and running for the hills at the mere thought of anal sex with someone. But the idea of that closeness, of giving himself over like that to someone he trusted and wanted, was desirable. It would be just as much a claiming act as the bonding, wouldn’t it? Maybe it would even help erase a little of the past experience. Paint it over with something better? 

The alpha growled and flung the covers away as he stood from his bed. He just wasn’t going to manage to sleep tonight with all this shit running through his brain. As he turned to the door of his room, thinking about maybe going downstairs for a snack, he opened the connection with his mate … and a strong sense of arousal hit him smack in the face. 

He froze. Stretched his senses to the room across the hall. Stiles was making soft little gasps and moans, muted, maybe into his pillow. There was a tale tell shifting of skin against skin and a heady scent of pre-cum in the air. 

_Mother fucker. He just wasn’t strong enough for this right now._

Derek was across the hall and locking the teen’s door behind himself before he really considered his actions. Stiles had gone still with shock as soon as the alpha had entered the room. In the darkness he could make out the younger man’s eyes, wide and embarrassed, and his hand disappearing beneath the waistband of his sleep shorts. 

“D-Derek?”

The werewolf growled low and deep as he stalked across the room towards the bed. Stiles ripped his hand out of his pants and started to scoot upwards on the mattress, but Derek grabbed the teen’s ankles and yanked him back into a prone position. Stiles yelped, but it finished as a moan when the alpha proceeded to crawl up his body and press them together, chest to thigh. 

“Oh my God.”

Those were the last words Derek allowed before he slammed his lips against his mate’s. Stiles’ mouth opened with a gasp and the alpha dove right in with everything he had. A rumbling purr of a noise was escaping him as he licked into his mate’s mouth, swept over his teeth, tasted the inside of his cheek. Stiles was breathing harshly through his nose, and his hands had wound themselves into Derek’s hair. 

When he finally broke away, the younger man was panting _‘oh my god oh my god’_ like a mantra in a soft whispered voice. Derek rumbled his pleasure as he leaned back and snagged the waistband of the teen’s shorts. Careful not to catch on the erection encased within, the alpha practically ripped the offending material from his mate’s body. 

“H-holy shit!”

Derek grinned, and he knew he probably looked feral and crazed at the moment, but he just couldn’t help himself. The teen’s cock twitched under his scrutiny, so he figured the younger man probably didn’t mind so much. He leaned back further and promptly stripped off his own pajama bottoms. Stiles choked on air. Before he could second guess himself, Derek bent forward and licked a stripe straight up the underside of the teen’s dick, then quickly swallowed the whole thing down as far as he could go. The flavor of his mate exploded over his tongue and he purred in delight. Salty and bitter, but it didn’t matter, it didn’t matter _at all._ It was fucking _delicious_ to his wolf. 

Stiles was twitching and writhing across the mattress, fingers gripping the sheets in a strangled white-knuckled hold. Derek purred again, cock still in his mouth, and the teen nearly bucked right off the bed. The alpha chuckled to himself as he pulled off and began to paint tiny kitten licks across the head, dipping the tip of his tongue into the slit to gather the liquid there. 

“Oh fuck! Oh Jesus! Oh fuck!”

The alpha hummed, continuing his teasing, as he reached behind himself and fingered at his hole. He was still a little stretched and loose from his bath earlier. It wasn’t near enough prep, but he didn’t give a shit. He just hoped that his mate would forgive him if this was taking it further than he was ready for. Derek just couldn’t help it. Something in him needed it desperately. He dove back down on Stile’s cock, getting it as spit-slick as he possibly could. 

When he pulled off, the younger man was so dazed it took him a couple seconds to realize that Derek was up and kneeling, straddling the teen’s hips. He reached back to grasp the cock beneath him and Stile’s eyes flew wide, hands immediately snapping up to grasp Derek’s hips. 

“What are you-”

His words cut off in a strangled groan as Derek positioned the head of his cock and spread his thighs further apart to slowly sink down. When the head popped through the first ring of muscle Derek mewled loudly. It was a hell of a lot more stretch than two fingers, and it _burned burned burned_ … but he continued to press down. Head tilted back so that he was staring at the ceiling of Stile’s room, panting breaths and soft little mewls still escaping him. 

When he was fully seated and Stiles was balls deep in, Derek whipped his arms forward to pull his mate’s hands from his hips and lace their fingers together, holding hands palm to palm. His head was still tipped back, and he’d closed his eyes to concentrate on the burn and the thick fullness inside. It was so different. It was _so different_ from before. The pain was mixed with pleasure this time. The intimacy of the act actually meant something. At least… he hoped it did. 

Derek forced himself to look down and risk a glance at his mate, who had been suspiciously silent through the act of penetration. Stiles looked … Stiles looked absolutely _gorgeous._ He was flushed everywhere and his eyes were dilated and almost luminous with arousal. His bottom lip was sucked into this mouth and he was biting into it’s plush softness. The alpha swiveled his hips experimentally and they both gasped sharply. 

“Oh my God, Derek. Fuck…”

Derek hummed softly before pulled himself up slowly, until just the head of his mate’s cock was inside him, then he dropped down quickly, gravity plunging Stiles deeper than before. Both men groaned appreciatively at the resulting pleasure. Derek lifted himself again and again, dropping down faster and harder each time on Stiles’ dick. Sweat had broken out all over his body and he could feel rivulets of it running down his chest. Their hands were still clasped together, but now rested against the cut of Derek’s hips. 

_It wasn’t enough. It wasn’t enough, he wanted more. He wanted more, but he couldn’t figure out how to ask for it. How to get it._ He clenched his eyes closed tightly and whined, high pitched and frantic. Stiles made a soft noise of comfort. 

“I got you. I got you, Der.”

The teen shifted beneath him, pulling up his knees and planting his feet on the mattress. On Derek’s next downward plunge, Stiles thrust upwards with his hips and slammed into him. Derek fucking howled. That was what he wanted. That was what he needed. They built up a frantic pace, sounds of slapping skin in the room absolutely filthy to his ears. A thready keen had stuck itself in his throat, pitch raising and lowering as he was fucked harder and faster. 

“Fuck! Oh my God! You’re so fucking beautiful. Derek, you’re so fucking…”

Stiles moaned through a particularly hard thrust, and the alpha could feel his mate getting closer to orgasm. He tried to clench tighter around his mate’s cock and was rewarded with a gasp. The younger man slammed up hard once more before he froze, thighs trembling against Derek’s ass, dick inside him spasming and shooting it’s load deep. Stiles’ feet slipped from their position as he collapsed flat on the bed again. Derek grunted when they landed, his mate’s cock still hard in his ass. He immediately began to swivel his hips in little figure eights, trying to reach his own orgasm before Stiles’ dick went too soft and slipped out. 

The teen’s hands pulled away from his own, but before Derek could whimper his complaint they were both wound around his cock and pumping him frantically. One hand moved back to stroke across Derek’s balls and then tease at the rim that was still stretched open around Stiles’ wilting dick. The finger pushed inside and wiggled around until it brushed over his sweet spot. Derek gave a full body shiver at the sensation and Stiles grinned wide and lovely before he stroked hard over the bundle of nerves again. 

Derek came so hard his world whited out for a bit. When he refocused he was folded over with his forehead resting in the middle of Stiles’ sweat-soaked chest. He groaned as he felt Stiles slowly pulling himself from Derek’s body. A funny tickle of liquid followed him out and it actually took Derek a moment to realize that it was his mate’s come dribbling out of his ass. Then the younger man was pushing at the alpha’s legs, which were still tucked up around his hips. 

“Come on. That can’t be comfortable. Straighten out.”

Derek rolled off to the side, stretching to his full length. He worried for a brief second about the pressure he might have placed on his swollen belly, but a small push through to the spark of his daughter revealed that all was well. He sighed happily and nuzzled into the slope of his mate’s neck. Stiles chuckled softly. 

“You really need to let me up so I can get us a washcloth.”

The alpha growled and wound his arms tightly around his mate. Stiles sighed. 

“Are we going to talk about where this came from? Because I’m not complaining, believe you me, but I’m feeling a bit out of the loop here.”

As much as Derek wanted to drift off into sleep, Stiles was practically thrumming with excited energy. Groaning, the alpha lifted his head so he could look down at the teen. Stiles’ face was split nearly in two with a shit eating grin, and his face was flushed pink all the way to his ears. Derek grunted. 

“What?”

Stiles fucking _giggled_ in response. 

“I just had sex. Oh my god, I just had sex… and it was AWESOME!”

Derek groaned again and face planted down into Stiles’ pillow. 

“Please, you gotta give me a fist bump. Derek! You gotta give me a fist bump! Because I just lost my virginity and there’s no one else here to do it.”

Cursing his luck ten different ways the alpha slowly raised up his arm and made a weak fist. The teen bumped it with his own enthusiastically and then burst into excited giggles. He started to ramble off about something, maybe torturing Scott with descriptions and illustrations in retaliation for months of Allison over-share, but Derek just allowed the soft lilt of his mate’s voice to lull him into sleep. 

He was dozing peacefully when Stiles’ phone chimed. The teen blindly groped around the table until he found it and proceed to fiddle with the damn thing. The light of it was bright in the darkened room, so Derek rolled over to his other side, presenting his back to his mate. 

“Bank robbery last night. Dad says he’ll probably be in the office all day. Promised to eat somewhat healthy for lunch.”

Derek grunted in response. 

“House to ourselves the whole day.”

He grunted again and was just beginning to drift off into sleep when the bed shifted. Warm lips were kissing at his shoulder as his mate tucked his body tightly up against his own. The hard shaft of the younger man’s dick rubbed along Derek’s ass and the werewolf’s breath hitched. Stiles’ hand drifted forward to cradle he mound of his belly as he nipped along the alpha’s neck. 

“My baby. Mine.”

Derek whimpered at the possessiveness in the tone. Stiles slid his palm lower to grasp the alpha’s fattening cock and tug it a couple times, then moved further down to snatch Derek’s upper leg and pull it up and back until it was resting over Stile’s own. Leaving him feeling open and exposed to the air. Then those long fingers were rubbing against Derek’s hole and he was almost shaking in the teen’s grip. One digit pressed slowly inside and the alpha moaned. 

“You’re still a little slick, but not enough.”

 _Jesus fucking shit._ He had a feeling sex talk with Stiles was going to be a thing. Once the teen got some experience, got some confidence, Derek could just imagine the dirty filth that would probably poor from Stiles’ mouth. He whined when the finger withdrew, but his mate only shushed him as he arched his torso away to scrabble at the drawer of the bedside table. A couple things fell to the floor, but they were ignored for the familiar flick of a cap. A moment later there was a lube-slick finger pushing back inside and Derek bucked his hips. 

Mouth and teeth had returned to nibbling and sucking at his neck and shoulder. 

“Have you ever fingered yourself before, Derek?”

_This kid was going to fucking kill him._

“You took a big chance last night with no prep. Could have hurt yourself.”

 _Kill him. No joke._

Derek groaned and rocked his hips in time with the finger fucking into him. 

“L-last night… in th-… in the bath.”

Stiles froze. 

“Where you fingering yourself while I was talking to you?”

Derek could only nod helplessly. His mate moaned and bucked against him. Two slick fingers suddenly thrust inside and the alpha cried out at the pressure. Stiles was grinding against his ass, dick leaving trails of moisture all over Derek’s skin. 

“Is this why you were at my computer that day? I looked up the browser history. I couldn’t figure out why you would be interested… after what happened.”

Derek mewled and panted into the pillow. 

“Wanted… wanted to be closer… to you.”

Stiles made a mewling sound of his own before pulling his fingers out and backing away. Derek whined at the loss, then realized that the teen was pushing him onto his back with one hand and slicking up his cock with the other. Derek immediately pulled his legs up and flung them over Stiles’ shoulders. The younger man laughed warmly at his eagerness so the alpha glared and snarled at him. 

“Now, now … don’t be like that, momma.”

Derek growled at him, but it sputtered out to a whimper as Stiles slid home in one thrust. 

“Fuck! If you’re going to be this tight every time I’m never going to build up any stamina.”

Stiles laughed, sweet and watery as he began to move. Derek dropped his legs to wrap them around the teen’s waist and hook his ankles. He couldn’t help the wicked little grin he knew must be on his face, but so far in his burgeoning sex life with Stiles it was completely different from every other experience he’d had. Not that there had been many. Kate had been rough and demanding, always making him feel dirty and used when it was over. Even when he fancied himself in love with her. The couple women he’d picked up in New York for a night or two and been simpering and clingy. Their smell and touch suffocated him. 

And those were the sole experiences he’d had before … well … before. 

Stiles changed the angle of his hips and picked up the pace. Derek purred happily and used his heels to help slam his mate in deeper with every thrust. The teen had been watching himself disappear into the alpha’s body, but at Derek’s happy noise he glanced up and smiled. Waggled his eyebrows ridiculously. Derek couldn’t stop the laughter that burst free from inside him. Couldn’t really even remember the last time he’d genuinely laughed out loud at all. His mate slowed his movements to reach forward and trace along Derek’s smile with his fingers. 

“It’s stupid how fucking gorgeous you are. Totally unfair.”

Derek nipped at his fingers and Stiles laughed as he snatched his hand back. It was relaxed. It was good. It was fun. Sex with Stiles was fun. The alpha had never imagined it could be this way. He arched his back and rolled his head into this pillows, keeping half-lidded eyes on his mate’s reaction. Stiles cursed under his breath but watched with rapt attention. Derek began to roll his hips with the timing of Stiles’ thrusts and the teen groaned. He could feel his mate’s orgasm nearing, so he clenched his inner walls in aide, even though he wasn’t ready to come himself yet. 

Stiles sucked in a gasp of air and let it out as a whine as he released inside Derek. The alpha couldn’t feel the spunk itself, just the odd pressure it created. Kind of made him feel like he needed to pee. Really weird, but nice. Stiles pulled himself out and immediately sat back on the bed, folding himself Indian style between Derek’s legs. Derek raised a questioning eyebrow as the younger man grabbed the alpha’s ankles and planted his feet on the mattress. Pushing them up toward Derek’s ass until his knees were prone in the air and his asshole felt like it was completely on display. 

His mate grinned wickedly before pushing two fingers back inside and going straight for his prostate. Derek howled into the quiet house and the teen rubbed across the spot mercilessly again and again. The alpha flung his head back and forth in desperation, unable to even form any words in his mind to describe the feeling. He whined again and again until it was echoing off the walls and drowning out the soft words of encouragement his mate was mumbling at him. 

Finally Stiles grasped his cock, tugged once, and Derek came like a fucking rocket. It splashed all up his abs and chest and his ass clamped down tight on Stiles’ fingers until he was through. With a soft sigh Derek relaxed back into the mattress feeling completely spent. He grunted when the younger man removed his fingers, but other than that light discomfort he was floating on cloud nine. Stiles helped him lay his legs down straight before bending over to kiss along Derek’s baby belly and lick up the come splattered across it. Derek rumbled a happy noise and the teen glanced up to meet his eyes. 

Stiles smiled beautifully and scooted up to kiss him gently on the lips. 

“A shower and clean sheets would probably be a really good idea before my dad gets home.”

~*~

To say that the shower was counter productive would be a fairly accurate description. Derek had barely managed to get the shampoo out of his hair before Stiles was dropping to his knees wanting a go at giving his first blowjob. Thankfully there were no teeth, but there was a lot of spit, several instances of gagging and an almost nosebleed when Derek came down his throat. But it was marginally successful. 

The Sheriff honestly could not have picked a better day to get stuck at the office. Derek was pretty sure the man would have been just a mite uncomfortable with the fact that his son and the alpha were apparently getting months of sexual frustration out of their systems. Between the hair-trigger erection of a seventeen year old male and the hormonally hot-blooded libido of a pregnant werewolf … they went at it like rabbit’s the whole damn day. 

At one point Derek had felt a couple of the betas drawing near, but at the time he was on his hands and knees in the middle of his bedroom getting pounded into from behind. He howled a warning to stay away, which probably sounded fucking ridiculous because the howl would hitch and break with each of Stiles’ thrusts. _Did the job though. Whichever betas it was high-tailed it the fuck outta Dodge._

By the time dinner rolled around and the police cruiser pulled up on the driveway, they were completely spent. Luckily, the house had aired out some. Even though Derek could still smell the sex everywhere, he was pretty sure it was safe for human noses. They were sitting on the couch when John walked in. Correction. Stiles was sitting on the couch, Derek was stretched the length of it with his head in the teen’s lap and face smashed into his mate’s stomach. Pretending to be asleep. _(It was the only way to keep the younger man from babbling about whatever show was currently on.)_

Derek listened as the older man paused in the doorway, obviously noticing them, and quietly moved into the room. His voice was low and soft when he spoke. 

“Hey, son. How’s he doing?”

Stiles grunted softly and leaned his head back to see his father. 

“Hey, dad. Not too bad. Had a rough night, but we’re doing okay now.”

It took everything in him not to snort or snicker. Rough night. Yeah. Sure. 

“Did you find out what happened at the doc’s?”

Stiles tensed beneath him. Derek feigned a soft sound of sleep before nuzzling further into the teen’s stomach. There was a chance his mate knew he was awake, and he wanted to make sure he knew Derek didn’t mind him speaking with his father. The teen licked his lips. 

“It was … He just started thinking about how he got there. Who’s baby it was. Had a mini-melt down, but we talked it out.”

John made a humming sound of understanding before reaching down to pat Stiles gently on the head. After a moments hesitation, the older man bent forward to repeat the action on Derek. The alpha felt the burn of tears behind his eyes at the show of affection. 

“It’ll all be okay, son. I just know it will.”

For the life of him, Derek couldn’t figure out which one of them the Sheriff meant those words for, but he really wanted them to be true. 

~*~

Derek groaned and shifted in the bed. He just couldn’t get comfortable. The heavy weight of his belly pushed at him no matter the angle he tried. The soft snores of his mate beside him and John down the hall ground at his patience. He just wanted to fucking sleep one night through, but the further along he’d gotten the more impossible that task seemed. There was only a week left until he hit the nine month mark and Deaton felt comfortable enough for the cesarean. For now he felt like a fucking moose with a full grown beta jammed into his gut. 

The alpha groaned as he pulled himself to his feet. Lauryl shifted inside of him, kicking repeatedly at his bladder. Through the bond he told her to calm the fuck down, and she responded with the equivalent of a happy _‘no’._ Growling low he waddled towards the bathroom to relieve the pressure on his bladder. When he was done, he stepped into the room that had previously been his own. 

The walls were a sea-foam green with a purple ceiling and purple patterns placed through out. The crib was ready and waiting in the corner with purple and white check bedding. The twin bed across the room matched it, as did the changing table, repainted dresser and massive toy chest. One wall had a mural of cartoon wolves dancing around in a field, full moon hanging heavy above them. He took a deep breath. Smelled the baby powder and diapers and new clothes that filled the room, and he wanted. He wanted so, so badly. 

“Only one more week.”

Derek turned to smile at the Sheriff behind him. The older man had taken the change in his son’s relationship with the alpha pretty well in stride. Had even helped them switch out the queen size bed from the guest room with the twin that had previously been Stiles’. He supposed it helped that the teen was now officially eighteen and legal in the eyes of the state. 

“What are you doing up?”

The alpha shrugged and moved toward the hallway. 

“Lauryl doesn’t sleep… I don’t sleep.”

John grinned, wide and bright, before clapping a hand on his shoulder. When Derek had finally gotten around to telling the Stilinski’s the name he had chosen for his daughter there had been many tears, several rounds of hugs, and a celebration pie. _(Blueberry with mint chocolate chip ice cream. Turns out Derek did have an odd craving.)_

“Cheryl was the same with Stiles. Warm milk always helped her. Wanna try it?”

Derek nodded and waddled out after the Sheriff. Who watched him closely as they traveled down the stairs. The larger he had gotten, the more the pack had worried. Especially after Stiles had insisted he inform them all about the risks that Deaton had discovered. He was never alone any more. There were always a minimum of two or three people hovering around him at all times. It wasn’t what he’d wanted, but the battle really wouldn’t be worth it. 

When he tried to settle on the barstool, Lauryl kicked again, even more viciously this time. She was antsy and anxious, and he couldn’t figure out why. Nothing he sent through the bond managed to calm her. He grunted and rubbed his belly. Still not as large and rounded as a female’s, but heavy and painful none-the-less. John was warming the milk and talking to him, but Derek was concentrating too fully on trying to get his daughter to settle down. She kicked again and this time he could swear he felt something tear. He stood. 

“John-”

A ripping pain suddenly slashed across his insides, and he cried out and toppled to the floor. There was a shattering of glass and then the Sheriff was hovering over him. 

“Derek? DEREK!?”

Something was clawing and gnashing at every vital part of him. Memories of Peter punching his claws right through Derek’s gut sprang to mind. He swore he could feel the makeshift womb being shredded inside his belly. Could feel organs being punctured. Blood bubbled up his throat and spilled over his lips. He screamed. There was so much pain. 

He begged his daughter to stop through the bond, but she was mindless with fright. The false nature of the womb must have somehow become obvious to her developing senses. She cried out for _‘Mother! Father! Protect Me!’_ and Derek could only whine in agony. 

_His pack. He wanted his pack. He wanted his mate. He wanted Stiles._

Derek threw back his head and howled as loud as he could, crying out _danger and pain and help_ , it pulled at his throat where the thick coppery blood continued to flow. But responding cries began to call out immediately, scattered around the town. The Sheriff was clutching at him and screaming for his son. Derek felt the pounding footsteps of his mate rushing to him and whimpered when Stiles dropped to the floor beside him. 

“Fuck! What happened? FUCK!”

Derek whined and reached for his mate, who immediately pulled him into his lap and cradled him close. 

“Call Deaton! DAD! Call Deaton!”

The elder Stilinski practically dove across the room for his phone and began to dial. In the far distance Derek could hear tires screeching and feel the pack getting closer. Another wave of pain tore through him and Derek wailed. He gripped his mate in his arms and stared up at Stiles’ face. The teen was openly crying, but telling him to stay calm, that everything was going to be alright. There was a steady whining in the room he knew was coming from him, but he couldn’t stop it. He’d made the joke earlier of feeling like a full grown beta was in his stomach, but it didn’t seem as funny now. Now it seemed completely possible. More pain raked across his belly and he could only gurgle around the blood in his mouth. 

Stiles hiccupped through a sob, and shifted until he could card his trembling fingers through Derek’s hair in the most soothing manner he could manage. Derek’s whines kicked up a notch. 

“Shh… it’s going to be fine. You’ll see. She just didn’t want to wait anymore. Wanted to meet her momma.”

The Sheriff sprinted to the front door and flung it open just as Isaac came barreling up the drive, completely wolfed out. 

“Scott’s getting Deaton and his mom! They’re on their way!”

He skidded to a stop inside the kitchen and whimpered in distress. Derek whined at him and the beta instantly moved forward to place his hands on the alpha’s skin and drain away some of the pain. Isaac paled at the touch and mewled. Derek weakly pushed him back. It wouldn’t do for the beta to take too much. He needed to be strong. The alpha turned his attention back to his mate. 

“S-Stiles… she wants out. She wants… I can’t-”

The teen shook his head frantically and skirted his shaking fingers down Derek’s face to cup his jaw.

“Shh-shh-shh… concentrate on healing yourself, don’t talk. Just think about how beautiful she’s going to be. You’ve been waiting to see her for so long. We finally get to find out what she looks like.”

Derek mewled and nodded his head weakly. Tried to demand his body to stay strong. To heal. 

Tires squealed to a stop outside and Erica and Boyd rushed through the door. They gathered on the floor behind Isaac, too far to touch, but close enough for support. The werewolves whined and whimpered with each sound of distress that Derek made. John was pacing the floor on the phone and Derek caught his eye. 

“Deaton had to get the emergency kit. They’re coming. They’re coming.”

Something sharp sliced up his ribs from the inside and Derek froze. He begged through the connection with his pup for her to stop, but she was scared and practically screaming to get out. The oxygen in his lungs seemed to harden like concrete. Sparks danced across his vision. He stared, wide-eyed at the ceiling and felt tears slipping down his face. 

“BREATHE, DEREK! GODDAMMIT, BREATHE!”

A hand smacked his cheek hard and he sucked in air. Then he was coughing it out through the blood filling his mouth. 

“Don’t do that to me! Don’t do that to me, you bastard!!”

Derek turned his gaze towards his mate once more. His beautiful, beautiful mate. The teenager he had once considered one of the most obnoxious humans he had ever been cursed to meet. Whom he had badgered and threatened and abused for the first several months of their acquaintance. Whom, despite all that, had helped Derek more times than the alpha could honesty remember. Whom, for the past seven months had shown Derek every kindness, every sweet soft moment of affection that he had never imagined having again. Whom he loved. Truly loved. _And had yet to fucking tell him._

Derek raised his hand to trail a finger softly down Stiles’ jaw line, not even noticing the streak of his own blood it left behind. The alpha smiled. 

“I love you.”

Stiles sobbed and grasped his hand tightly. 

“Don’t you fucking DARE start with any last words shit, Derek Hale, or I swear to fucking GOD I will kill you myself! You’re not going _anywhere!_ ”

Behind him, the Sheriff choked on something and threw his phone against the wall. The betas whined and sniffled. Finally, the sound of tires barely hanging onto their treads wailed around the corner. Derek only listened in the periphery as Deaton, Melissa and Scott ran into the house. At some point Lydia and Jackson had appeared as well, clinging to each other and trembling behind the other betas. The pain was starting to fade to a dull ache, and Derek knew that wasn’t a good thing. The vet and nurse were pulling at his clothes and ordering people around, but he couldn’t really be bothered to pay attention. A movement behind his mate caught his eye. Scott was kneeling next to Stiles and grasping his friend’s shoulder tight. Derek pushed the thick, syrupy blood out of his mouth with his tongue. 

“Scott.”

The beta instantly snapped his focus to Derek. There were tears gathering in his eyes and the alpha was a little humbled that the beta he’d had the most trouble with actually seemed to care about him. The path they had walked together might have been rocky and full of challenges, but the alpha held a lot of regard and admiration for the boy, and he had begun to feel those emotions returned in kind. Scott would do well as the alpha now. He was more in control and settled with his wolf than he had been before. It would be okay. 

“It’ll … It’ll pass to you, Scott. You gotta… take care of the pack. Keep everyone safe. Help … Stiles raise the… pup.”

Scott nodded numbly and Isaac whined high in distress across the room. Stiles was suddenly grabbing Derek’s chin and forcing the alpha to meet his gaze. 

“I told you no goodbye shit, Derek! Stop it! Just look at me. Look at _me._ ”

So Derek did. He held that amber gaze steady as sounds slowly trickled in around them. Felt Deaton’s hands grazing across his belly. John gripping his forearm tightly in support. Melissa shuffling around beside him. The metal clink of tools being sorted and set on the floor. His beta’s nervous movements and thundering heartbeats. Stiles’ fingers trailing across his eyebrows in a butterfly soft touch.  
 __  
“Probably why the carriers didn’t survive. The pups tore their own way out of the fake womb.”  
“John! We need more towels! Hurry!”  
“No time to be sterile about it, shouldn’t matter with wolves, anyway.”  
“Are these enough? What else do you need?”  
“Some warm water, please. A large bowl.”  
“I need to cut him open. Melissa you’ll have to hold the wound open, his body will try to heal.”  
“Oh God.”  
“Derek, I need you to keep very still.”  
  
“I love you, too. You know that, right?”

Derek had been losing focus, but those words snapped him back into clarity. Stiles was still holding him close, staring intently down into his eyes. The alpha blinked up at this mate and watched the tears trek down the young man’s cheeks. 

“You know that, right? That I’m like… completely _gone_ on you? Even when you’re being a surly, ridiculous sourwolf. Even when you won’t shave for a week and look like a fucking mountain man. Or when you steal curly fries off my plate. Or tell me that Supernatural is a stupid show, because clearly you’re insane and have no taste in quality entertainment. Or when you refuse to stop wearing those stupid … fucking … penguin… pants.”

Stiles lost it by the end and was hiccupping little sobs through the words. There was a painful slice and odd pulling at his belly, but Derek ignored it to smile at his mate. Which only made Stiles cry harder because Derek had tried to raise his arm to trace along the younger man’s face again, but he couldn’t even muster the strength to lift it any more. He settled for sending every once of his love for the teen through their bond. 

“I know.”  
 __  
“Take her! Take her!”  
“Cut the cord, John!”  
“Careful! She’s a strong little sweetheart, isn’t she?”  
“She’s absolutely beautiful.”  
“You’re biased, Grandpa.”  
  
His mate nodded and clenched his eyes closed for a second, and that’s when Derek noticed a flicker of darkness across the room. A shadow was moving slowly and silently through the chaos of the kitchen, deep in the recesses where the lights didn’t quite reach. When it finally emerged to stand behind Deaton, Derek’s mouth sucked in a gasp. 

“Laura.”

She smiled at him and nodded. There were tears in her eyes, and she was a little hazy and undefined, but he’d know his sister anywhere. He’d missed her _so fucking much._ Someone was tugging on his abdomen and a fierce little wail lit up the room. Laura’s face immediately flushed with a grin and she clasped her hands before lips. He smiled back at her. 

“Laura.”  
 __  
“What is he saying?”  
“He’s saying Lauryl… she’s here Derek. She’s fine.”  
“Oh my god, no … he’s saying Laura.”  
“Where’s he looking?”  
“The corner over there.”  
“But there’s no one there!”  
“I fucking see that, Scott! Derek… Derek… look at me okay? Look at ME.”  
  
His sister stepped closer and tilted her head towards Stiles, arching an eyebrow. He could almost hear her saying, _‘really, Der? A teenager?’_ He wished he could shrug his shoulder at her, but it was being uncooperative, so he just smirked a little instead. Derek watched as her eyes passed over his pack in contemplation and the smile slipped from his face. 

“Did I do okay? Laura? Did I do okay?”

She gave him a watery smile as fresh tears slipped from her eyes. She nodded.  
 __  
“Oh god! Don’t do this, Derek! Don’t do this! You have to believe, remember? Believe you son of a bitch! Don’t you leave me!”  
“He’s losing a lot of blood, his body isn’t healing fast enough!”  
“Scott! Hand me my bag! Quickly!”  
  
Laura took a step back into the shadows and began to dissolve before his eyes. Derek frowned. 

“Laura. Wait.”

She shook her head.  
 __  
“NO! Don’t wait, Laura! GO! I’m sorry, but you can’t have him! We need him! I need him!”  
“If this doesn’t work, I don’t know what else to do.”  
“What are you doing!?”  
“Need to jump start the healing process.”  
  
His sister’s shadow slipped away again, breaking apart in the darkness of the house beyond the kitchen. He wanted to howl and chase after her. Follow her wherever she was going. Follow her as he’d always followed her. He could feel his eyes growing heavier. Wanted to beg for her to wait for him.  
 __  
“Derek! DEREK! PLEASE DON’T DO THIS! OH GOD. PLEASE DON’T DO THIS!”  
“Dammit! We’re losing him! We’re losing him!”  
“You have to see your baby girl, Derek! Keep fighting!”  
  
Tired. He was so tired. But he was so _happy._ He pushed out with his senses and his connection to the pack. Found them all around him. Surrounding him. His beta’s and the humans and his mate. All around. A new spark of life flared from somewhere nearby and he sensed his daughter. Her strength and her willpower. Her destiny to become the next alpha. He was content. He was satisfied. 

_“Please, Derek. I love you. I love you so fucking much.”_

He wasn’t lonely any more. 

He closed his eyes. 

 

  
EPILOUGE: 16 YEARS LATER  
~*~

Stiles was enjoying his quiet morning sitting at the kitchen island, sipping his rapidly cooling coffee and reading the morning paper. Nothing big or exciting going on in Beacon Hills today, just how he liked it. Still a school day, though. He eyed the clock on the stove before turning his head to holler towards the stairs. 

“Lauryl! You better be ready! Only fifteen minutes!”

There was a series of muffled thumps from the second floor, followed by a loud howl of frustration. A few minutes passed before the thundering footsteps of his teenage daughter raged down the stairs. Her long, black hair was a fly-away mess and her eyes, the same multi-colored beauties of her father, were wide and angry. She marched right up to him and pointed an accusing finger towards the stairs. 

“Dad! Make him stop! I can’t handle the overprotective smothering for one more second. Colin is a very sweet boy and I want for _just once_ to be able to ride to school with my boyfriend! Not in the back of a police cruiser! Like a _criminal!_ ”

Stiles just snickered at the over-abundance of teenage angst and wondered how his father had put up with him for so long without strangling the life out of him. She was staring at him beseechingly, but all he could manage was to take in her beautiful face and marvel at this fabulous creature that was his child. She looked so much like Derek that it often brought tears to his eyes. 

“Dad!”

He laughed softly and shrugged his shoulders. 

“What do you expect me to do about it? He’s the Sheriff … and you’re sixteen and gorgeous. He worries.”

His daughter groaned theatrically and threw herself into the barstool next to him. She plowed into the plate of food he’d left for her like a ravenous … well … _wolf._ There was a soft clearing of a throat and Stiles hadn’t even realized his father had seated himself as well. When their eyes met across the kitchen, his father tried very hard to school away the grin on his face. Stiles smiled, wide and bright, in return. 

The silence was shattered by a beep of a car horn outside and resulting squeal of glee from his daughter. 

“He’s here!!! Please, Dad! Pleeeeeeeeeeease?”

Stiles was just about to open his mouth to respond when a roar from upstairs nearly shook them all right off their seats. His father started cackling madly as the floor trembled and shrieked when someone decided to bypass the stairs altogether and jump from the second floor landing. Thank God they had been extremely thorough when renovating and remodeling this monstrosity, or there was a stubborn bastard who would have plummeted straight into the basement a dozen times over. 

“NO!!”

Fuck. That voice still sent shivers down his spine. Of course, so did the shrill screech of his daughter’s raised voice. But for a completely different reason. 

“DADDY! It’s not FAIR! Dad said it was okay!”

Stiles immediately shot his hands upward in his best _‘I’m staying out of this. I’m totally innocent.’_ expression, while his father was now laughing openly across from him. Then an absolutely gorgeous specimen of a man stalked into the kitchen. Sculpted body encased in the sinfully tight uniform of the Beacon Hills Police Department. Stiles permitted himself to ogle. _He was allowed dammit._

Derek had aged so gracefully that it sometimes made Stiles a little sick. Just a few laugh lines, a couple tiny crows feet at the eyes, and a smattering of silver across his temples. Other than that? Still perfection. 

“No! You’re not riding to school with that boy! I’ll drop you off on my way to the-”

Lauryl was now practically wailing. 

“Pleeeeeeeeeeeeease, Daddy!! Please!! I know you’ve checked Colin’s record. He’s a safe driver! And he’s so sweet! If you’d only give him a _chance!_ ”

“Oh, I’m sure he’s very sweet when he’s trying to get you in the backseat of his car!”

“OH MY GOD! You did _not_ just go there, Daddy!”

The kitchen burst into a cacophony of screaming at that point, so Stiles just sighed and turned back to his father … who was conspicuously absent now. Sneaky old man. Retires and then suddenly starts acting like ninja Grandpa. Around when there is spoiling to be done, but smoke on the breeze when it’s time for discipline. Stiles sighed once more before finally pushing himself to his feet. 

“That’s enough.”

Both dark haired beauties instantly silenced and looked at him. Well … one glowered and the other was attempting her Uncle Scott’s best kicked puppy expression. Stiles turned to his daughter first. 

“Get your bag. Get to school. Tell Colin we expect him to be a respectful young man, and he’ll be having dinner with the family on Saturday.”

Lauryl squealed in glee once again before launching herself at him for a tight hug and kiss to the cheek. 

“Thank you, Dad!”

He nodded and shooed her away. 

“Yeah, yeah you little kiss up. Just remember to remind him that your father is the Sheriff, and your grandfather was before him. They can make a body disappear.”

His daughter laughed as she gathered her stuff. Derek’s arms were crossed so tightly over his chest a couple buttons were in danger of popping right off his uniform. But he didn’t argue … much. 

“If he touches you inappropriately I will rip his throat out-”

“With your teeth. Yes, Daddy, I know. Love you! Bye!”

The next instant their daughter was out the door and Derek was growling lowly at whatever he was overhearing from the driveway. Stiles chuckled softly as he walked up to his mate. 

“You have to let her grow up, babe.”

His mate rolled his eyes dramatically _(and he wonders where their daughter gets her theatrics from)_ before finally dropping his arms to his sides and blowing a frustrated breath between his lips. 

“I’m not ready for it. It feels like it was just yesterday she was this cute, tiny thing that nibbled on my fingers when I tried to feed her.”

Stiles hummed softly as he stepped closer, wound his arms around that lovely neck and planted a kiss on his mate’s frowning mouth. 

“Only you would think she was adorable while trying to gnaw your hand off.”

Derek snorted, then leaned forward to nuzzle his face into the curve of Stiles’ neck. 

“She was so cute, and little and … quiet. What happened?”

The younger man snorted before leaning back to kiss gently again at his mate’s lips. 

“Teenage-hood happened. Can you imagine? That’s how old I was when you met me.”

Derek groaned and pulled away. 

“Don’t remind me. I’ve got to get to work. Boyd’s pulling a double and Erica’s already called me twice screaming for me to send him home.”

Stiles laughed and helped the werewolf put on his uniform jacket. 

“Pregnancy suits her so well.”

The alpha quirked an eyebrow and answered with a smirk.

“Yeah, well, she can complain to me when her pup _literally_ claws its way out of her stomach. Until then … no sympathy.”

Stiles tsked. 

“Such a cruel, cruel alpha. Now get that ridiculous ass of yours to work.”

“You love my ass.”

The younger man grinned. 

“Yeah. I really, really do.”

He watched his mate as the alpha retrieved his service revolver from the lock box and shrugged those massive shoulders into the role of official Sheriff of Beacon Hills. Keys to his police cruiser jingling in his fingers and broad back turned away from Stiles as he muttered something about schedules and dinner, but Stiles wasn’t even paying attention. The soft tone of his mate’s voice was barely making it past his skull, much less the actual _words_ formed by that gorgeous mouth. 

Stiles had drifted away. To half a lifetime ago. 

“Babe?”

He snapped back to attention, met with the concerned gaze of his mate. 

“Are you okay? You drifted away there.”

Stiles chuckled and nodded his head. Stepping forward, he reached up to straighten the lapels of the alpha’s jacket. 

“Just thinking. Do you know what today is?”

Eyebrows raised high in confusion, Derek shook his head slowly in the negative. Stiles’ grin widened. 

“Seventeen years ago today you called me to Deaton’s office to ask me to be your mate.”

Derek’s jaw dropped open. 

“Really? That was _today?_ You remember that?”

Stiles hummed under his breath and allowed his hands to roam up his mate’s neck to cup gently at his ever-scruffy _(though now a little gray)_ jaw. 

“Yup.”

“Wow.”

“Yup. Do you ever regret it?”

Derek tilted his head and scrunched his nose adorably. 

“The circumstances? Or asking you?”

Stiles shrugged his shoulders. 

“Both.”

The alpha stepped closer and wrapped his arms around the younger man’s neck. 

“Never.”

The world’s sexiest Sheriff _(Stiles dared anyone to dispute that fact. Dared them.)_ leaned forward to plant a gentle kiss against his lips before moving away. 

“Gotta go. Love you.”

Stiles smiled as he watched the werewolf open the front door and step out into the sun. 

“Love you, too. See you tonight.”

Derek turned back to give a little wave as he pulled the door closed behind him, bright morning light sparkling and dancing off the well-worn golden band of metal snug on his left hand. 

~*~  
THE END  
~*~

**Author's Note:**

> I haz Tumblr!!! Come say hi! :) [HERE](http://bunnymaccool.tumblr.com/)


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